Historical biogeography of Vochysiaceae reveals an unexpected perspective of plant evolution in the Neotropics

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Despite the fast pace of exploration of the patterns and processes influencing Neotropical plant hyperdiversity, taxa explored are mostly from large groups that are widely distributed, morphologically diverse or economically important.  Vochysiaceae is an example of an undersampled taxon, providing an excellent system for investigating Neotropical biogeography.  We present a phylogenomic-based hypothesis of species relationships in Vochysiaceae to investigate its evolutionary history through space and time.

METHODS: We inferred a phylogeny for 122 species from Vochysiaceae and seven other families of Myrtales.  Fossils from four myrtalean families were used to estimate the divergence times within Vochysiaceae.  Historical biogeography was estimated using ancestral range probabilities and stochastic mapping.

KEY RESULTS: Monophyly of all genera was supported except Qualea, which was split by Ruizterania into two clades.  Vochysiaceae originated roughly 100 mil...