Family Ties: A Case of Study within Myrtoideae

Phylogenetic relationships are important to explain clade evolutionary history, but they are frequently difficult to identify. Myrtaceae family has been shown as potentially good case - study to resolve several phylogenetic questions regarding its family history and evolution. The Myrtaceae (Myrtales order) contains over 5500 species within 144 genera, distributed predominantly in Southern Hemisphere. Several Myrtaceae taxa are known for their economic importance and notable representation in the humid pleotropic forests. The family includes two subfamilies, Psiloxiloideae and Myrtoideae. Interestingly, the Myrtoideae subfamily has a marked disparity in taxa number among its tribes that it has never been explained. Moreover, it includes species with different fruit type (fleshy, dry fruits) and this peculiarity has been previously considered to explain the subfamily diversification, but to no avail. A more highly comprehensive matrix of the BKMMST clade within Myrtoideae was generated and newly analysed. The results showed that considering mainly certain character state (molecular, fruit type, habitus) has been possible provided a new interpretation of family evolution. Fruit types and habitus traits were mapped and different Myrtoideae tribes were spatially and temporally compared. The conclusions represent an added important step to explain the phylogenetic relationships of this complicated family and evaluate a new evolutionary prospective.