A Late Cretaceous Piper (Piperaceae) from Colombia and diversification patterns for the genus.

摘要: PREMISE OF THE STUDY Documented fossil floras in the neotropics are sparse, yet their records provide evidence on spatial and temporal occurrence of taxa, allowing for testing biogeographical diversification scenarios individual lineages. A new Piper from Late Cretaceous Colombia is described here, its importance assessing patterns genus addressed. METHODS Leaf architecture 32 leaf compressions Guaduas Formation was compared with that 294 extant angiosperm species. The phylogenetic position named margaritae sp. nov. established based traits a molecular scaffold Piper. age independently used as calibration point divergence time estimations. KEY RESULTS Natural affinities P. to Schilleria clade indicate occurred tropical America by Cretaceous. Estimates lineage accumulation reveal most diversity accrued during last ∼30 Myr. CONCLUSIONS recent radiation coeval both Andean uplift emergence Central America, which have been proposed important drivers diversity. This pattern could exemplify recurrent theme among many neotropical plant