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Angiosperm Radiation (angiosperm + radiation)
Selected AbstractsAppraising the roles of nutrient availability, global change, and functional traits during the angiosperm rise to dominanceECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 5 2010Kevin E. Mueller Ecology Letters (2010) 13: E1,E6 Abstract To explain the rise of angiosperms during the Cretaceous, Berendse & Scheffer (Ecol. Lett., 12, 2009, 865) invoke feedbacks between leaf litter, soil nutrients, and growth, overlooking other factors affecting resource acquisition by Cretaceous plants. We evaluate their hypothesis, highlight alternative explanations, and emphasize use of a broader framework for understanding the angiosperm radiation. [source] THE MACROEVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS OF ANT DIVERSIFICATIONEVOLUTION, Issue 11 2009Marcio R. Pie The availability of increasingly comprehensive phylogenies has provided unprecedented opportunities to assess macroevolutionary patterns, yet studies on invertebrate diversification are few. In particular, despite the ecological and evolutionary importance of ants, little is known about their tempo and mode of diversification. Recent advances in ant phylogenetics can now provide a basis for rigorous analyses of the diversification of ant lineages. The goals of the present study are threefold. First, we demonstrate that a hypothesized disproportionate increase in ant diversification during the angiosperm radiation is largely artifactual. Rather, current evidence points to a fairly constant rate of lineage growth during its history. Moreover, an analysis of diversification patterns across the ant phylogeny indicates considerable rate heterogeneity among lineages. Indeed, and contrary to the expectation if lineages had experienced a single rate of lineage increase, we found no correspondence between genus age and diversity. Finally, we demonstrate a statistically significant phylogenetic signal in ant diversification: closely related genera have diversities that are more similar to one another than one would expect by chance. This suggests that the capacity for diversification may be itself a biological trait that evolved during the radiation of the family Formicidae. [source] Flower symmetry evolution: towards understanding the abominable mystery of angiosperm radiationBIOESSAYS, Issue 7 2010Andrea Busch No abstract is available for this article. [source] Flower symmetry evolution: towards understanding the abominable mystery of angiosperm radiationBIOESSAYS, Issue 11 2009Andrea Busch Abstract Flower symmetry is considered a morphological novelty that contributed significantly to the rapid radiation of the angiosperms, which already puzzled Charles Darwin and prompted him to name this phenomenon an ,abominable mystery'. In 2009, the bicentenary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work, ,On the Origin of Species', this question can now be more satisfactorily readdressed. Understanding the molecular control of monosymmetry formation in the model species Antirrhinum opened the path for comparative studies with non-model species revealing modifications of this trait. TCP transcription factors, named after TEOSINTE BRANCHED 1 in maize, CYCLOIDEA in snapdragon and PCF in rice, control flower monosymmetry development and contributed to establishing this trait several times independently in higher angiosperms. The joint advances in evolutionary and developmental plant research, combined in the novel research field named Evo/Devo, aim at elucidating the molecular mechanisms and strategies to unravel the mystery of how this diversity has been generated. [source] | ||||||||||