Earth history and the passerine superradiation

2019
Avian diversification has been influenced by global climate change, plate tectonic movements, and mass extinction events. However, the impact of these factors on the diversification of the hyperdiverse perching birds ( passerines) is unclear because family level relationships are unresolved and the timing of splitting events among lineages is uncertain. We analyzed DNA data from 4,060 nuclear loci and 137 passerinefamilies using concatenation and coalescent approaches to infer a comprehensive phylogenetic hypothesis that clarifies relationships among all passerinefamilies. Then, we calibrated this phylogeny using 13 fossils to examine the effects of different events in Earth history on the timing and rate of passerinediversification. Our analyses reconcile passerinediversification with the fossil and geological records; suggest that passerinesoriginated on the Australian landmass ∼47 Ma; and show that subsequent dispersal and diversification of passerineswas affected by a number of climatological and geological events, such as Oligocene glaciation and inundation of the New Zealand landmass. Although passerine diversification ratesfluctuated throughout the Cenozoic, we find no link between the rate of passerinediversification and Cenozoic global temperature, and our analyses show that the increases in passerine diversification ratewe observe are disconnected from the colonization of new continents. Taken together, these results suggest more complex mechanisms than temperature change or ecological opportunity have controlled macroscale patterns of passerinespeciation.
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