Phylogeny, biogeography and ecological niche modelling of Cardiocrinum

Revealing patterns of evolutionary assembly in the Sino-Japanese Floristic Region (SJFR), Yang et al. assess genetic structure and phylogenetic relationships, and reconstruct ancestral sites for Cardiocrinum (Liliaceae), a genus consisting of four taxa distributed across the SJFR.

The biogeographic analyses, based on six chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) fragments and three low copy nuclear genes (LCNG), reveal that the ancestor of C. giganteum diversified during the late Miocene in Central China as well as a subsequent pattern of dispersal from Central China to the Himalayas in the West and Japan in the East for genera distributed across the SJFR. Moreover, orogeny and fluctuations in sea level of the East China Sea played important roles in promoting species divergence.