[Taxacom] Just one species of Bromeliales in Africa

[Jason Mate]

I am unfamiliar with Pitcarnia but I do recall that Rhipsalis has a rather interesting distribution. Most species are found in the Neotropics but a few are found in tropical Africa, and Asia. It is the only Cactaceae found outside the Neotropics, and as it produces sweet fruits which are attractive to birds, maybe it hitched a ride?
Best
Jason

> From: kennethkinman at webtv.net
> To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:19:10 +0000
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Just one species of Bromeliales in Africa
> 
> Hi Geoff,
>       I think you are correct, and that Pitcairnia feliciana was
> collected somewhat inland (not coastal).  But I am still surprised that
> it has not been found in other countries in western Africa. If the
> Rapateaceae species dispersed earlier as suggested, perhaps competitive
> exclusion could be a possibility.   In any case, I just found a paper by
> Dick et al., 2007 (Molecular Ecology 16:3039-3049) which suggests that
> this Pitcairnia species and the Rapateaceae genus dispersed across the
> Atlantic by very strong wind currents (perhaps along with a few other
> plant species).     
> 
>       Not sure if dispersal by strong winds is more likely than
> dispersal by birds in these cases, but more cases of plant species being
> dispersed from northern South America to this area in equatorial west
> Africa are slowly being discovered.  And these are relatively late
> events (within in the last 12 million years), completely different from
> the vicariance event which resulted in the damselfly genera discussed
> earlier (which diverged FAR FAR earlier, on the order of 150 million
> years ago).      
>       So I continue to believe that vicariance (which is supported in
> many cases for genera and higher level taxa) has been invoked too often
> for some species level events.  Thus my earlier frustration that some
> would jump on a species level dispersal in the opposite direction (Nile
> crocodiles from Africa to South America), suggesting vicariance in that
> case merits serious consideration (due to their excessive distrust of
> molecular clocks and molecular data in general).  Although I frankly
> don't think molecular clocks are nearly as regular as some might think,
> I also think that the opposite view (dismissing and trashing such data
> as often as possible) is even less helpful.
>         -------------Ken
> 
> 
> 
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