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| The Neotropical palm tribe Iriarteeae is ubiquitous in several lowland and montane biomes across northern
South America, but the phylogenetic relationships among genera and species remain unresolved. A well resolved
phylogenetic tree is key to exploring morphological evolution in the tribe, including striking features such as the
complex and unique in?orescence structures in Wettinia. We generated data from ?ve plastid (ndhA, petD-rpoA,
psbK-trnS and trnG) and six nuclear (AG1, CISPs 4 and 5, PRK, RPB2 and WRKY21) molecular loci to infer the
phylogeny. We explored the evolutionary patterns of trait evolution using the D statistic and stochastic character
mapping. All genera were inferred as monophyletic and their relationships were recovered with strong to
moderate support. Based on these results we synonymize the two species of Iriartella under I. setigera and
resurrect Socratea montana from S. rostrata. Interspeci?c relationships were mostly consistent with current
morphological classi?cation. One exception concerns trait evolution in Wettinia, in which the clustered
infructescence was found to have evolved at least four times. Phylogenetic signal for this trait was weak and
randomly distributed across the tree, probably representing convergence. Our results provide a robust
phylogenetic framework for Iriarteeae, largely corroborating current morphological classi?cation and laying the
groundwork for macroevolutionary studies in the tribe. | |
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