Disparate origins for endemic bird taxa from the ‘Gondwana Rainforests’ of Central Eastern Australia

A phylogenetic analysis of eight bird taxa endemic to Central Eastern Australia's Gondwana Rainforests reveals disparate origins, with five showing Plio-Pleistocene divergences from northern relatives, indicating recent lowland rainforest expansion and contraction. In contrast, two upland species, the rufous scrub-bird and logrunner, diverged during the Miocene, suggesting longer persistence and temperate origins. Additionally, reciprocal monophyly was not recovered in mitogenomes of Albert’s lyrebird and superb lyrebird. These findings support the rainforests' biota comprising isolates of varying ages and origins.

Mitchell, K. J., Hugall, A. F., Heiniger, H., Joseph, L., & Oliver, P. M. (2021). Disparate origins for endemic bird taxa from the ‘Gondwana Rainforests’ of Central Eastern Australia. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 134(1), 40–56. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blab031