Compared to other regions, the drivers of diversification in Africa are poorly understood. We studied a radiation of insects with over 100 species occurring in a wide range of habitats across the Afrotropics to investigate the fundamental evolutionary processes and geological events that generate and maintain patterns of species richness on the continent. By investigating the evolutionary history of Bicyclus butterflies within a phylogenetic framework, we inferred the group’s origin at the Oligo-Miocene boundary from ancestors in the Congolian rainforests of central Africa. Abrupt climatic fluctuations during the Miocene (ca. 19–17 Ma) likely fragmented ancestral populations, resulting in at least eight early-divergent lineages. Only one of these lineages appears to have diversified during the drastic climate and biome changes of the early Miocene, radiating into the largest group of extant species. The other seven lineages diversified in forest ecosystems during the late Miocene and Pleistocene when climatic conditions were more favorable—warmer and wetter. Our results suggest changing Neogene climate, uplift of eastern African orogens, and biotic interactions have had different effects on the various subclades of Bicyclus, producing one of the most spectacular butterfly radiations in Africa. [Afrotropics; biodiversity; biome; biotic interactions; Court Jester; extinction; grasslands; paleoclimates; Red Queen; refugia forests; dependent-diversification; speciation.]

中文翻译：

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中新世气候和栖息地变化推动了非洲最大的色蝶辐射 Bicyclus 的多样化

与其他地区相比，人们对非洲多样化的驱动因素知之甚少。我们研究了在非洲热带地区广泛栖息地中出现的 100 多种昆虫的辐射，以研究在非洲大陆产生和维持物种丰富度模式的基本进化过程和地质事件。通过在系统发育框架内调查双环蝴蝶的进化历史，我们从中非刚果雨林的祖先推断出该群体起源于寡中新世边界。中新世（约 19-17 Ma）期间突然的气候波动可能使祖先种群支离破碎，导致至少有 8 个早期发散的谱系。在早中新世剧烈的气候和生物群落变化期间，这些谱系中只有一个似乎已经多样化，辐射成最大的现存物种群。其他七个谱系在中新世晚期和更新世的森林生态系统中多样化，当时气候条件更有利——更温暖、更潮湿。我们的研究结果表明，新近纪气候的变化、东非造山带的抬升和生物相互作用对 Bicyclus 的各个亚群产生了不同的影响，产生了非洲最壮观的蝴蝶辐射之一。[非洲热带; 生物多样性；生物群落；生物相互作用；宫廷小丑；灭绝；草原；古气候；红皇后；避难林；依赖多元化；物种形成。] 我们的研究结果表明，新近纪气候的变化、东非造山带的抬升和生物相互作用对 Bicyclus 的各个亚群产生了不同的影响，产生了非洲最壮观的蝴蝶辐射之一。[非洲热带; 生物多样性；生物群落；生物相互作用；宫廷小丑；灭绝；草原；古气候；红皇后；避难林；依赖多元化；物种形成。] 我们的研究结果表明，新近纪气候的变化、东非造山带的抬升和生物相互作用对 Bicyclus 的各个亚群产生了不同的影响，产生了非洲最壮观的蝴蝶辐射之一。[非洲热带; 生物多样性；生物群落；生物相互作用；宫廷小丑；灭绝；草原；古气候；红皇后；避难林；依赖多元化；物种形成。]