ABSTRACT
Making any of the assumptions listed by Rosen (2016) when formulating or testing scientic hypotheses can inhibit progress in comparative biology. However, developing and using methods with these assumptions can be just as detrimental, especially when reconstructing historical scenarios. Two assumptions that can equally inhibit progress in comparative biogeography in particular are:
• All distributions result from vicariance • All distributions result from dispersal
Biogeographic studies have traditionally focused on describing distributional patterns either by using phylogenetic patterns of distributions to address large spatial and deeper temporal scales, or ecologically relevant patterns of species richness that focus on smaller spatial and shallower temporal scales. More recently, there has been a drive to create methods that integrate both approaches to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of global biodiversity. This has led to the development of a variety of techniques and approaches, phylogeography (Avise 2000) being the most widely used, with the goal of revealing biological and demographic processes that have played important roles in current biotic structure and how these patterns have been shaped by a region’s abiotic history (as reviewed in Brooks and McLennan 2002; Wiens and Donoghue 2004; Morrone 2009; Folinsbee and Evans 2012; Wiens 2012).
