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Aspects of the evolutionary biology of the Proteaceae, with emphasis on the genus Leucadendron and its phylogeny
This genus is useful for a phylogenetic study because it comprises many species (79), is morphologically very diverse and appears to have diverged early on in the history of the family in Africa. Polarity of many characters was determined by outgroup analysis and the ontogenetic method. Exceptionall...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Department of Biological Sciences
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613228958220288 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Midgley, Jeremy John |
| author_browse | Midgley, Jeremy John |
| author_facet | Midgley, Jeremy John |
| author_sort | Midgley, Jeremy John |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This genus is useful for a phylogenetic study because it comprises many species (79), is morphologically very diverse and appears to have diverged early on in the history of the family in Africa. Polarity of many characters was determined by outgroup analysis and the ontogenetic method. Exceptionally high levels of convergence made the determination of the phylogeny of the subsections problematic. An index, which is the sum of weight of all derived characters present in a species, was determined. The genus should be removed from its present subtribe, the Aulacinae, to be placed closer to the Leucospermum "alliance". I suggest an arid temperate, shrub-like origin for the African Proteaceae, which is in contrast to some published views. Modifications to accepted concepts of fruit homology for the family are presented. Also, further evolutionary trends in morphology, pollination and dispersal are indicated. 'The divergence index, if used as a "morphological clock", appears to be useful for further biogeographic and ecological analyses. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/43291 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:47.627Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Department of Biological Sciences |
| publisherStr | Department of Biological Sciences |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/43291 Aspects of the evolutionary biology of the Proteaceae, with emphasis on the genus Leucadendron and its phylogeny Midgley, Jeremy John Botany, leucadendron, proteaceae, phylogenetics. This genus is useful for a phylogenetic study because it comprises many species (79), is morphologically very diverse and appears to have diverged early on in the history of the family in Africa. Polarity of many characters was determined by outgroup analysis and the ontogenetic method. Exceptionally high levels of convergence made the determination of the phylogeny of the subsections problematic. An index, which is the sum of weight of all derived characters present in a species, was determined. The genus should be removed from its present subtribe, the Aulacinae, to be placed closer to the Leucospermum "alliance". I suggest an arid temperate, shrub-like origin for the African Proteaceae, which is in contrast to some published views. Modifications to accepted concepts of fruit homology for the family are presented. Also, further evolutionary trends in morphology, pollination and dispersal are indicated. 'The divergence index, if used as a "morphological clock", appears to be useful for further biogeographic and ecological analyses. 2026-06-02T11:43:46Z 2026-06-02T11:43:46Z 1987-03 2026-06-02T10:21:39Z Thesis / Dissertation Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43291 en eng application/pdf Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Botany, leucadendron, proteaceae, phylogenetics. Midgley, Jeremy John Aspects of the evolutionary biology of the Proteaceae, with emphasis on the genus Leucadendron and its phylogeny |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | Aspects of the evolutionary biology of the Proteaceae, with emphasis on the genus Leucadendron and its phylogeny |
| title_full | Aspects of the evolutionary biology of the Proteaceae, with emphasis on the genus Leucadendron and its phylogeny |
| title_fullStr | Aspects of the evolutionary biology of the Proteaceae, with emphasis on the genus Leucadendron and its phylogeny |
| title_full_unstemmed | Aspects of the evolutionary biology of the Proteaceae, with emphasis on the genus Leucadendron and its phylogeny |
| title_short | Aspects of the evolutionary biology of the Proteaceae, with emphasis on the genus Leucadendron and its phylogeny |
| title_sort | aspects of the evolutionary biology of the proteaceae with emphasis on the genus leucadendron and its phylogeny |
| topic | Botany, leucadendron, proteaceae, phylogenetics. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43291 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT midgleyjeremyjohn aspectsoftheevolutionarybiologyoftheproteaceaewithemphasisonthegenusleucadendronanditsphylogeny |