[Taxacom] Dispersalist theory creating mysteries

[John Grehan]

>From 'Biogeography of Australiasia'

"Crisp et al (2011) discussed 'Geographically restricted taxa that are
species-poor and sister to a species -rich lineage (often referred to as
'relicts')'...cited examples from the Tasman region...The authors concluded
that the restriction of these groups to a localized area is 'shrouded in
mystery', but this is only because it conflicts with the authors'
underlying assumption: 'to a large degree, New Zealand and New Caledonia
resemble "oceanic" islands with young, immigrant biota, rather than
"continental" islands with relictual "Gondwanan" biota...yet if dispersal
theory is rejected and if groups evolve by simple vicariance, these
mysteries do not arise".