Postdoc Weston Testo has just had a great paper published in New Phytologist on work stemming from his PhD research on lycophytes. This study examines the evolution and diversification of the genus Phlegmariurus in the Andes, and shows that speciation in the genus has been tightly tied to the Andean uplift, and especially to the emergence of the high-elevation páramo habitats over the last 10 million years.
- Testo ML, EB Sessa, and DS Barrington. (2019) The rise of the Andes promoted rapid diversification in Neotropical Phlegmariurus (Lycopodiaceae). New Phytologist 222: 604–613. doi: 10.1111/nph.15544 PDF
The paper is accompanied by a great invited commentary by Laura Lagomarsino (Lousiana State University), Andean plant expert extraordinaire!