CALIBRATION OF MOLECULAR CLOCKS AND THE BIOGEOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF CRYPTERONIACEAE

A recent molecular clock analysis concluded that Gondwanan vicariance and out-of-India dispersal best explained the distribution of Crypteroniaceae and its allies (Conti et al. 2002). A reanalysis of their data using a different molecular dating technique and calibration point is congruent with an alternative hypothesis, namely dispersal between India, Africa, and South America long after the initial break-up of Gondwana.