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Abstract Geological events such as mountain uplift affect how, when, and where species diversify, but measuring those effects is a longstanding challenge. Andean orogeny impacted the evolution of regional biota by creating barriers to gene flow, opening new habitats, and changing local climate. Bomarea (Alstroemeriaceae) are tropical plants with (often) small, isolated ranges; in total, Bomarea species occur from central Mexico to central Chile. This genus appears to have evolved rapidly and quite recently, and rapid radiations are often challenging to resolve with traditional phylogenetic inference. In this study, we apply phylogenomics—with hundreds of loci, gene-tree-based data curation, and a multispecies-coalescent approach—to infer the phylogeny of Bomarea. We use this phylogeny to untangle the potential drivers of diversification and biogeographic history. In particular, we test if Andean orogeny contributed to the diversification of Bomarea. We find that Bomarea originated in the central Andes during the mid-Miocene, then spread north, following the trajectory of mountain uplift. Furthermore, Andean lineages diversified faster than non-Andean relatives. Bomarea thus demonstrates that—at least in some cases—geological change rather than environmental stability has driven high species diversity in a tropical biodiversity hotspot. These results also demonstrate the utility (and danger) of genome-scale data for making macroevolutionary inferences.
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This content will become publicly available on February 11, 2026
Tombs as Evidence of Religious Diversity in the Sacred Valley, Peru (ca. AD 1000–1532)
This article articulates a regional, diachronic approach to precontact central Andean tombs by interpreting differences in materiality and function as evidence for distinct religious traditions. I analyze a sample of 788 tombs from 30 sites in the Sacred Valley and adjacent tributary valleys (Cusco, Peru), built and used during the Late Intermediate and Inka periods (ca. AD 1000–1532). Combining primary and published datasets, this sample includes a wide variety of tombs that variably facilitated or impeded certain interactions and relationships between the living, the dead, and the environment. To understand this diversity, I develop a typology comprising six tomb types based on morphological traits, which exhibit overlapping distribution patterns at local and regional scales. In contrast to studies that emphasized commonality and timelessness in central Andean mortuary practices, these data attest to considerable diversity in belief and value systems during half a millennium. As such, this study challenges existing models and presents new interpretations of late precontact tombs, considering that central Andeans across time and space held divergent beliefs about life and death. Recognizing diversity in past and present Indigenous societies is required for an empirical and decolonial archaeology that rejects stereotypes of cultural homogeneity.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2212652
- PAR ID:
- 10649985
- Publisher / Repository:
- Cambridge University Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Latin American Antiquity
- ISSN:
- 1045-6635
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 23
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- mortuary practices diversity informal religion Cusco Late Intermediate Period Inkas
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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