@article{morlon_explosive_2012,
Author = {Morlon, Hélène and Kemps, Brian D. and Plotkin,
Joshua B. and Brisson, Dustin},
Title = {Explosive radiation of a bacterial species group},
Journal = {Evolution},
Volume = {66},
Number = {8},
Pages = {2577--2586},
abstract = {The current diversity of life on earth is the product
of macroevolutionary processes that have shaped the
dynamics of diversification. Although the tempo of
diversification has been studied extensively in
macroorganisms, much less is known about the rates of
diversification in the exceedingly diverse and
species-rich microbiota. Decreases in diversification
rates over time, a signature of explosive radiations,
are commonly observed in plant and animal lineages.
However, the few existing analyses of microbial
lineages suggest that the tempo of diversification in
prokaryotes may be fundamentally different. Here, we
use multilocus and genomic sequence data to test
hypotheses about the rate of diversification in a
well-studied pathogenic bacterial lineage, Borrelia
burgdorferi sensu lato (sl). Our analyses support the
hypothesis that an explosive radiation of lineages
occurred near the origin of the clade, followed by a
sharp decay in diversification rates. These results
suggest that explosive radiations may be a general
feature of evolutionary history across the tree of
life.},
doi = {10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01598.x},
issn = {1558-5646},
language = {eng},
month = aug,
pmcid = {PMC3871994},
pmid = {22834754},
year = 2012
}