PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - J. Igea
AU  - A. J. Tanentzap
TI  - Different macroevolutionary routes to becoming a biodiversity hotspot
AID  - 10.1101/452128
DP  - 2018 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 452128
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/10/25/452128.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/10/25/452128.full
AB  - Why is species diversity so unevenly distributed across different regions on Earth? Regional differences in biodiversity may stem from differences in rates of speciation and dispersal and colonization times, but these hypotheses have rarely been tested simultaneously at a global scale. Here we uncovered the routes that generated hotpots of mammal and bird biodiversity by analyzing the tempo and mode of diversification and dispersal within major biogeographic realms. Hotspots in tropical realms had higher rates of speciation whereas those in temperate realms received more immigrant species from their surrounding regions. We also found that hotspots had higher spatial complexity and energy availability, providing a link between the environment and macroevolutionary history. Our study highlights how assessing differences in macroevolutionary history can help to explain why biodiversity varies so much worldwide.