The tempo of avian diversification: A response to Johnson and Cicero

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2006

Publication Title

Evolution

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Volume

60

Issue

2

First page number:

411

Last page number:

412

Abstract

Johnson and Cicero (2004) claimed that inspection of a distribution of uncorrected mitochondrial DNA avian sister-taxon distances illustrated that the late Pleistocene was an important time for avian speciation. They believed this finding to be at odds with conclusions of Klicka and Zink (1997). However, both studies document recent speciation events. More germane to the discussion is what is meant by an ‘‘important’’ time for speciation, which we take to mean above some baseline diversification rate. We constructed a null distribution of sister-taxon distances based on a model of constant speciation and extinction rates. The empirical distribution of sister-taxon distances in Johnson and Cicero (2004) did not differ from the null model. Therefore, our analysis of Johnson and Cicero’s data suggests that the late Pleistocene was no more important for avian speciation than any other time during this time period.

Keywords

Biodiversity; Biogeography; Birds; Phylogeny

Controlled Subject

Biodiversity; Phylogeography; Population Biology

Disciplines

Biodiversity | Evolution | Molecular Genetics | Ornithology

File Format

pdf

File Size

23 KB

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or use interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the article. Publisher copyright policy allows author to archive post-print (author’s final manuscript). When post-print is available or publisher policy changes, the article will be deposited.

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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