[Taxacom] Antarctic dispersal (was: Another blow to vicariance in ratite evolution

[John Grehan]

Ken,

What I called 'stupid' was the authors' contention that distant ancestors
must still have done some flying because "Their homes weren't near each
other as continent fragments, so mere drifting doesn't explain the close
relationship." Locations do not have to be next to each other to have
drifting 'explain' a close relationship. And, as you point out with the
Crossosomatales, a clade that is currently known only from NZ and
Madagascar does not mean that that the ancestral range was limited to just
those two locations.

The argument about how many distributions it takes to make a pattern will
end up being pointless since there is no empirical criterion other than two
or more. There is nothing special about 'Madagascar' and 'New Zealand' as
defining entities anyway since neither constitute a natural biogeographic
unit (both are political entities).

John Grehan


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