Wahlberg, Niklas ; Leneveu, Julien ; Kodandaramaiah, Ullasa ; Peña, Carlos ; Nylin, Sören ; Freitas, André V. L. ; Brower, Andrew V. Z. (2009) Nymphalid butterflies diversify following near demise at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276 (1677). pp. 4295-4302. ISSN 0962-8452
Full text not available from this repository.
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1303
Related URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1303
Abstract
The butterfly family Nymphalidae contains some of the most important non-drosophilid insect model systems for evolutionary and ecological studies, yet the evolutionary history of the group has remained shrouded in mystery. We have inferred a robust phylogenetic hypothesis based on sequences of 10 genes and 235 morphological characters for exemplars of 400 of the 540 valid nymphalid genera representing all major lineages of the family. By dating the branching events, we infer that Nymphalidae originated in the Cretaceous at 90 Ma, but that the ancestors of 10–12 lineages survived the end-Cretaceous catastrophe in the Neotropical and Oriental regions. Patterns of diversification suggest extinction of lineages at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary (65 Ma) and subsequent elevated speciation rates in the Tertiary.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Source: | Copyright of this article belongs to Royal Society Publishing. |
| Keywords: | Lepidoptera; Nymphalidae; Mass extinction; Times of divergence; Diversification. |
| ID Code: | 141967 |
| Deposited On: | 30 Dec 2025 12:31 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Dec 2025 12:31 |
Repository Staff Only: item control page
