Out-of-India Gondwanan origin of some tropical Asian biota

Abstract

Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the presence of Gondwanan lineages in tropical Asia including, the out-of-India hypothesis, the Eurasian route hypothesis, long-distance transoceanic dispersal and the boreotropical hypothesis. Recent molecular studies support an out-of-India Gondwanan origin of some tropical Asian taxa. Specifically these studies suggest that ancient Gondwanan lineages survived on peninsular India in spite of dramatic climatic changes and Late Cretaceous volcanism. Under this model, Gondwanan lineages dispersed into Asia when peninsular India collided with Asian plate. These Gondwanan lineages represent the remnants of unique ancient biota that require urgent attention from conservationists if we are to preserve the overall evolutionary history of Indian biota.