Evidence for the recent dispersal of Sophora (Leguminosae) around the Southern Oceans: molecular data

New Zealand's origin as part of Gondwana, the composition of its ancestral biota, its geographic isolation for 80 million years, its tectonic history of changing shorelines and mountain building, and its changing climate, have all influenced the composition and distribution of its plant and animal communities, and thus its ecology and evolutionary biology. Recent DNA-sequencing studies combined with palaeogeographic analysis suggest that an Oligocene marine transgression had a major genetic bottle-neck effect on the biota and, together with recent advances in avian biogeography and paleontology, are leading to new hypotheses on the origin of many bird groups. Copyright © 1993. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The region between the rbcL and atpB chloroplast genes and the first 53 codons of the rbcL gene have been sequenced for 19 species of angiosperms. Nine of these belong to the four largest families within the order Celastrales sensu Cronquist (i.e., Aquifoliaceae s.l., Icacinaceae, Celastraceae, and Hippocrateaceae). Both phenetic and cladistic approaches were used to test the monophyly of the order and to specify its relationships with Euphorbiaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rosaceae, and Theaceaea. Based upon this molecular analysis, the order Celastrales is polyphyletic and is divided into two major clades. The first group, containing Aquifoliaceae s.l. and Icacina, is related to Camellia (Theaceae). The second, containing Euonymus (Celastraceae), Hippocratea, and Salacia (Hippocrateaceae), is related to Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae).