THE BIOGEOGRAPHY OF SULAWESI REVISITED: IS THERE EVIDENCE FOR A VICARIANT ORIGIN OF TAXA ON WALLACE'S “ANOMALOUS ISLAND”?
- 21 February 2012
- Vol. 66 (7), 2252-2271
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01588.x
Abstract
Sulawesi, the largest island in the Indonesian biodiversity hotspot region Wallacea, hosts a diverse endemic fauna whose origin has been debated for more than 150 years. We use a comparative approach based on dated phylogenies and geological constraints to test the role of vicariance versus dispersal in the origin of Sulawesi taxa. Most divergence time estimates for the split of Sulawesi lineages from their sister groups postdate relevant tectonic vicariant events, suggesting that the island was predominantly colonized by dispersal. Vicariance cannot be refuted for 20% of the analyzed taxa, though. Although vicariance across Wallace's Line was only supported for one arthropod taxon, divergence time estimates were consistent with a "tectonic dispersal" vicariance hypothesis from the East in three (invertebrate and vertebrate) taxa. Speciation on Sulawesi did not occur before the Miocene, which is consistent with geological evidence for more extensive land on the island from that time. The Pliocene onset of periodic sea-level changes may have played a role in increasing the potential for dispersal to Sulawesi. A more extensive taxon sampling in Wallacea will be crucial for refining our understanding of the region's biogeography and for testing hypotheses on the origin of taxa on its most important island.Keywords
This publication has 102 references indexed in Scilit:
- Major global radiation of corvoid birds originated in the proto-Papuan archipelagoProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011
- ESTIMATING DIVERSIFICATION RATES: HOW USEFUL ARE DIVERGENCE TIMES?Evolution, 2010
- Elucidating geological and biological processes underlying the diversification of Sulawesi tarsiersProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009
- A coalescent framework for comparing alternative models of population structure with genetic data: evolution of Celebes toadsBiology Letters, 2008
- jModelTest: Phylogenetic Model AveragingMolecular Biology and Evolution, 2008
- Recent developments in the MAFFT multiple sequence alignment programBriefings in Bioinformatics, 2008
- Major Caribbean and Central American frog faunas originated by ancient oceanic dispersalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007
- Phylogeny and ancient DNA of Sus provides insights into neolithic expansion in Island Southeast Asia and OceaniaProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007
- There is no universal molecular clock for invertebrates, but rate variation does not scale with body sizeProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Rapid evolution of sessility in an endemic species flock of the freshwater bivalve Corbicula from ancient lakes on Sulawesi, IndonesiaBiology Letters, 2005