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Science 21 September 2001:
Vol. 293. no. 5538, pp. 2242 - 2245
DOI: 10.1126/science.1061421
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Reports

Rapid Diversification of a Species-Rich Genus of Neotropical Rain Forest Trees

James E. Richardson,12 R. Toby Pennington,1* Terence D. Pennington,3 Peter M. Hollingsworth1

Species richness in the tropics has been attributed to the gradual accumulation of species over a long geological period in stable equatorial climates or, conversely, to speciation in response to late Tertiary geological events and unstable Pleistocene climates. DNA sequence data are consistent with recent diversification in Inga, a species-rich neotropical tree genus. We estimate that speciation was concentrated in the past 10 million years, with many species arising as recently as 2 million years ago. This coincides with the more recent major uplifts of the Andes, the bridging of the Isthmus of Panama, and Quaternary glacial cycles. Inga may be representative of other species-rich neotropical genera with rapid growth and reproduction, which contribute substantially to species numbers in the world's most diverse flora.

1 Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR, UK.
2 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
3 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AB, UK.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: t.pennington{at}rbge.org.uk

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