[Taxacom] Atlantic tectonic correlation for ant group

[John Grehan]

Hi Brendon,

A nice illustration of a tectonic gap appears to be applicable to the
sister genera Gigantiops (northern and central S America) and Santischiella
(Gabon/very easternmost Congo). While most ant folk would no doubt
attribute this to some kind of chance dispersal across the Atlantic one way
or the other, it is not necessary as most biogeographers would immediately
recognize this as a classic pattern whereby the American range is broad but
the African range is narrow. It is seen in plants and other animals (such
as a dragonfly group). The distribution corresponds to a phylogenetic age
approximating the Atlantic split, and this is also consistent with the
apparent absence of Gigantiops from Panama (the classic Romeral Fault Zone
break). Do you know of any facts that refute this correlation?

Cheers, John