Gondwana to Asia: Plate tectonics, paleogeography and the biological connectivity of the Indian sub-continent from the Middle Jurassic through latest Eocene (166–35 Ma)

Ali, Jason R.; Aitchison, Jonathan C.

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2008.01.007

Cited by 508 publications

(417 citation statements)

References 130 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

389

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Scheme of the successive breakup of the Gondwana continent. At nodes approximate divergence times are given in million years before present (see Ali and Aitchison, 2008, and references therein; geological time scale according to Ogg and Gradstein, 2008). The grey bars indicate (1) the first fossil occurrence of Brachyura; (2 and 3) first occurrence of early heterotreme crabs based on (2) a corystid of ambiguous age and (3) the confirmed dorripid fossil record; (4) the oldest known fossil freshwater crab.…”

Section: Phylogenetic Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Freshwater crab origins—Laying Gondwana to rest

Klaus

Yeo

Ahyong

2011

Zoologischer Anzeiger - A Journal of Comparative Zoology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We review the available data on the phylogeny, palaeontology and divergence time estimation of primary freshwater crabs in relation to a hypothesized Gondwanan origin of these brachyurans, as postulated by some workers in recent decades. Known phylogenetic relationships within the Old World freshwater crabs do not correspond to the successive fragmentation of the Gondwana continent. This is strong evidence against an ancestral Gondwanan distribution of Afrotropical Potamonautidae and Asian-Australian Gecarcinucidae. The fossil record of freshwater crabs (no older than the Oligocene) and heterotreme brachyurans also postdate the initial break up of Gondwana. Molecular-clock based time estimates for the most common recent ancestor of freshwater crab families differ profoundly, depending on the method of calibration used, and whether freshwater or marine brachyuran fossils are used as calibration points. As such, molecular clock estimates calibrated on freshwater crab fossils favour a post-Gondwanan evolution of freshwater crabs whereas calibration based on marine brachyuran fossils date their last common ancestor before the fragmentation of Gondwana.

show abstract

Section: Phylogenetic Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Freshwater crab origins—Laying Gondwana to rest

Klaus

Yeo

Ahyong

2011

Zoologischer Anzeiger - A Journal of Comparative Zoology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although it is therefore evident that oceanic dispersal has played a pivotal role in the current distribution pattern of chameleons, the geographical origin of the family and the direction of dispersal are still uncertain. The hypothesis that chameleons originated in Madagascar and later dispersed to Africa where they subsequently radiated [14] is oft-cited [18][19][20][21], despite some conspicuous inconsistencies in that scenario. Although multiple major chameleon clades are found on Madagascar, the chameleon sistergroup Agamidae does not occur there at present, nor is it in the Malagasy fossil record.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large-scale phylogeny of chameleons suggests African origins and Eocene diversification

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Oceanic dispersal has emerged as an important factor contributing to biogeographic patterns in numerous taxa. Chameleons are a clear example of this, as they are primarily found in Africa and Madagascar, but the age of the family is post-Gondwanan break-up. A Malagasy origin for the family has been suggested, yet this hypothesis has not been tested using modern biogeographic methods with a dated phylogeny. To examine competing hypotheses of African and Malagasy origins, we generated a dated phylogeny using between six and 13 genetic markers, for up to 174 taxa representing greater than 90 per cent of all named species. Using three different ancestralstate reconstruction methods (Bayesian and likelihood approaches), we show that the family most probably originated in Africa, with two separate oceanic dispersals to Madagascar during the Palaeocene and the Oligocene, when prevailing oceanic currents would have favoured eastward dispersal. Diversification of genus-level clades took place in the Eocene, and species-level diversification occurred primarily in the Oligocene. Plio-Pleistocene speciation is rare, resulting in a phylogeny dominated by palaeo-endemic species. We suggest that contraction and fragmentation of the Pan-African forest coupled to an increase in open habitats (savannah, grassland, heathland), since the Oligocene played a key role in diversification of this group through vicariance.

show abstract

“…The Indian subcontinent's lengthy northward migration, starting with Gondwanan breakup from the Middle Jurassic (178-161 Mya) to its collision with Asia in the Eocene (14), has fueled discussions about an Indian "Garden of Eden" for placental mammals (12). To date, five species of eutherians have been named from India's Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian, 70.6-65.5 Mya) intertrappean beds: D. hislopi (13), Deccanolestes robustus (15), Deccanolestes narmadensis (16), Sahnitherium rangapurensis (17), and Kharmerungulatum vanvaleni (18).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A radiation of arboreal basal eutherian mammals beginning in the Late Cretaceous of India

Goswami

Prasad

Upchurch

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

India's Late Cretaceous fossil mammals include the only undisputed pre-Tertiary Gondwanan eutherians, such as Deccanolestes . Recent studies have suggested a relationship between Deccanolestes and African and European Paleocene adapisoriculids, which have been variably identified as stem euarchontans, stem primates, lipotyphlan insectivores, or afrosoricids. Support for a close relationship between Deccanolestes and any of these placental mammal clades would be unique in representing a confirmed Mesozoic record of a placental mammal. However, some paleogeographic reconstructions place India at its peak isolation from all other continents during the latest Cretaceous, complicating reconstructions of the biogeographic history of the placental radiation. Recent fieldwork in India has recovered dozens of better-preserved specimens of Cretaceous eutherians, including several new species. Here, we incorporate these new specimens into an extensive phylogenetic analysis that includes every clade with a previously hypothesized relationship to Deccanolestes . Our results support a robust relationship between Deccanolestes and Paleocene adapisoriculids, but do not support a close affinity between these taxa and any placental clade, demonstrating that Deccanolestes is not a Cretaceous placental mammal and reinforcing the sizeable gap between molecular and fossil divergence time estimates for the placental mammal radiation. Instead, our expanded data push Adapisoriculidae, including Deccanolestes , into a much more basal position than in earlier analyses, strengthening hypotheses that scansoriality and arboreality were prevalent early in eutherian evolution. This comprehensive phylogeny indicates that faunal exchange occurred between India, Africa, and Europe in the Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene, and suggests a previously unrecognized ∼30 to 45 Myr “ghost lineage” for these Gondwanan eutherians.

show abstract

Gondwana to Asia: Plate tectonics, paleogeography and the biological connectivity of the Indian sub-continent from the Middle Jurassic through latest Eocene (166–35 Ma)

Cited by 508 publications

References 130 publications

Freshwater crab origins—Laying Gondwana to rest

Freshwater crab origins—Laying Gondwana to rest

Large-scale phylogeny of chameleons suggests African origins and Eocene diversification

A radiation of arboreal basal eutherian mammals beginning in the Late Cretaceous of India

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About