The evolutionary history of vines in a neotropical biodiversity hotspot: phylogenomics and biogeography of a large passion flower clade (Passiflora section Decaloba)

The two main goals of our study were to: 1) elucidate the evolutionary history of the group, including identifying major clades and testing the monophyly of species, and 2) reconstruct the biogeography of section Decaloba, including analyzing its geographic origin, path of colonization, and major processes affecting diversification. Our results provide the first well-resolved phylogeny of the group and shed light on a historical biogeographical scenario by which species of section Decaloba achieved their present-day distributions across the Neotropics. Our findings contribute both a baseline for future evolutionary and ecological research in Passifloraceae as well as an improved understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns of evolutionary history in Neotropical vines.