Did the Cyatheaceae become such a diverse family slowly over time, or in spurts? The largest molecular sampling yet points to gradual accumulation of species.
Revealing the role played by the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) for organismal diversification and biogeography of plants in the Northern Hemisphere, Huang et al. assess phylogenetic relationships and divergence time, and...
As angiosperms became one of the megadiverse groups of macroscopic eukaryotes, they forged modern ecosystems and promoted the evolution of extant terrestrial biota. Unequal distribution of species among lineages...
Up to one-quarter of flowering plant species may have escaped recognition due to processes such as autopolyploidy-whole genome duplication events where polyploids may be morphologically identical to their diploid...
Normally you would expect organs to change across evolutionary time. However, this is not always the case, and some clades can be species-rich, but still have very similar flowers.
Co-evolutionary matches between lengths of floral nectar tubes and pollinator proboscises is associated with speciation in several lineages, including Pelargonium (Geraniaceae), a genus renowned for morphological...
Aridification has been a major force in cycad evolution, says José Said Gutiérrez-Ortega. It helps to explain why cycads were capable to adapt and diversify in the modern habitats, even when they originated in the early...
Geographic distributions of species are constrained by their ecological requirements. Chozas et al. study the distribution, environmental responses and evolutionary relationships of the three species of the genus...
Species-level phylogeny and habitat evolution data are applied to the hyper-diverse angiosperm clade Saxifragales to reveal that habitat shifts are very rare. Saxifragales lineages are likely to remain rooted within...