Explosive avian radiations and multi-directional dispersal across Wallacea: Evidence from the Campephagidae and other Crown Corvida (Aves) Knud A. Jønsson a, * , Martin Irestedt b , Je ´ro ˆme Fuchs c,d,e,f , Per G.P. Ericson g , Les Christidis h,j , Rauri C.K. Bowie f , Janette A. Norman i,j , Eric Pasquet c,d , Jon Fjeldsa ˚ a a Vertebrate Department, Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen £, Denmark b Molecular Systematic Laboratory, Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden c UMR5202 ‘‘Origine, Structure et Evolution, de la Biodiversite ´ ” De ´partement Syste ´matique et Evolution, Muse ´um National d’histoire Naturelle, 55 Rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France d Service Commun de Syste ´matique mole ´culaire, IFR CNRS 101, Muse ´um National d’histoire Naturelle, 43 Rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France e DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town, South Africa f Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Department of Integrative Biology, 3101 Valley Life Science Building, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3160, USA g Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden h Division of Research and Collections, Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia i Science Department, Museum Victoria, GPO Box 666, Melbourne, Vic. 3001, Australia j Department of Genetics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic. 3052, Australia Received 18 July 2007; revised 16 January 2008; accepted 17 January 2008 Available online 26 January 2008 Abstract The systematic relationships among avian families within Crown Corvida have been poorly studied so far and as such been of limited use for biogeographic interpretations. The group has its origin in Australia and is thought to have colonized Africa and the New World via Asia beginning some 35 Mya when terranes of Australian origin approached Asian landmasses. Recent detailed tectonic mapping of the origin of land masses in the region around Wallace’s line have revealed a particularly complex movement of terranes over the last 20– 30 Myr. Thus the biogeographic dispersal pattern of Crown Corvida is a particularly exciting case for linking vicariance and dispersal events with Earth history. Here we examine phylogenetic affinities among 72 taxa covering a broad range of genera in the basal radiations within Crown Corvida with an emphasis on Campephagidae and Pachycephalidae. Bayesian analyses of nuclear DNA sequence data identified the family Campephagidae as monophyletic but the large genus Coracina is not. Within the family Pachycephalidae the genera Pachycephala and Colluricincla are paraphyletic with respect to each other. The resulting phylogeny suggests that patterns of dispersal across Wallace’s line are complex and began at least 25 Mya. We find evidence of explosive radiations and multi-directional dispersal within the last 10 Myr, and three independent long distance ocean dispersal events between Wallacea and Africa at 10–15 Mya. Further- more, the study reveals that in the Campephagidae a complex series of dispersal events rather than vicariance is the most likely expla- nation for the current biogeographic pattern in the region. Ó 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Passeriformes; Crown Corvida; Campephagidae; Dispersal; Vicariance; Radiation; Wallacea; Indian Ocean 1. Introduction The marked difference in fauna and flora between Asia and Australia has fascinated biologists for centuries. Alfred 1055-7903/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.01.017 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: kajonsson@snm.ku.dk (K.A. Jønsson). www.elsevier.com/locate/ympev Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 47 (2008) 221–236