Phylogenetic measures of marsupials in the world — Promaco Conventions

Phylogenetic measures of marsupials in the world (#119)

Margarita M Medina 1
  1. University of Canberra, Bruce, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Marsupials are a suitable group for phylogenetic and spatial analysis, because of their complex biogeography and evolution. In this analysis we used different phylogenetic measures to identify spatial patterns, such as phylogenetic diversity (PD), phylogenetic endemism (PE) and Categorical Analysis for Palaeo and Neo Endemism (CANAPE), using a dataset of marsupials, to compare the results at two geographic areas and incorporate a dated phylogeny at species level for 282 taxa. Spatial analyses were conducted at a 100 km × 100 km grid scale. Our aim was to identify an evolutionary pattern using the current marsupial distribution using the different biomes of the Americas and Australasia. Randomization tests were employed to identify cells with significantly high or low values of phylogenetic diversity (PD), and CANAPE was used to identify significant hotspots of neo- and palaeo-endemism. Preliminary results show significantly high PD values along the eastern coast in Australia and Papua New Guinea. CANAPE indicated hotspots of neo-endemism in Central, north portion of South America and the south-east coast in Australia, and hotspots of palaeo-endemism scattered through Australia and Chile. We concluded that PD, PE and CANAPE generally provided results for consistent patterns with other taxa, providing further evidence for the utility of phylogenetic measures in testing hypotheses about phylogenetic and biogeographical processes.

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