Low-elevation regions harbour the majority of the world's species diversity compared to high-
elevation areas. This global gradient suggests that lowland species have had more time to …

Net diversification rates were estimated for samples of primarily tribe‐to‐family‐level clades
of passerine birds, taking into account extinction as well as speciation. Two samples were …

Understanding geographic variation in the species richness and lineage composition of
regional biotas is a long-standing goal in ecology. Why do some evolutionary lineages …

Aim Species richness is unevenly distributed among clades, reflecting differences in the
extent to which species co‐occur, their rates of geographical turnover and total area …

Aim One prominent explanation for the latitudinal gradient in biodiversity proposes that its
prime cause is the greater age and/or higher origination rates of tropical clades, and the …

Variation in species richness across environmental gradients may be associated with an
expanded volume or increased packing of ecological niche space. However, the relative …

Why diversification rates vary so extensively across the tree of life remains an important yet
unresolved issue in biology. Two prominent and potentially independent factors proposed to …

Phylogeographical analyses provide information about the role of evolutionary processes
underlying species diversity of the Neotropical montains. We used mitochondrial DNA …

Niche expansion can lead to adaptive differentiation and speciation, but there are few
examples from contemporary niche expansions about how this process is initiated. We …

The role of historical factors in driving latitudinal diversity gradients is poorly understood.
Here, we used an updated global phylogeny of terrestrial birds to test the role of three key …