Evolutionary history of zoogeographical regions surrounding the Tibetan Plateau

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) and surrounding regions have one of the most
complex biotas on Earth. However, the evolutionary history of these
regions in deep time is poorly understood. In this study, we quantified
the temporal changes in beta dissimilarities among zoogeographical regions
during the Cenozoic using 4,966 extant terrestrial vertebrates and 1,278
extinct mammal genera. We identified ten present-day zoogeographical
regions and found that they underwent a striking change over time.
Specifically, the fauna on the TP was close to the Oriental realm in deep
time, while it became more similar to the Palearctic realms towards the
present day. The present-day zoogeographical regions generally emerged
during the Miocene/Pliocene boundary (ca. 5 Ma). These results indicate
that geological events such as the Indo-Asian Collision, the TP uplift,
and the aridification of the Asian interior underpinned the evolutionary
history of the zoogeographical regions surrounding the TP over different
time periods.