Out of and in East Asia: Phylogeny, biogeography and diversification of Thalictroideae (Ranunculaceae) in the Northern Hemisphere.

The biogeographical patterns of Thalictroideae support the "out of and in East Asia" hypothesis, i.e., East Asia is both a source and a sink of biodiversity of the Northern Hemisphere. The global cooling after the middle Miocene Climatic Optimum, combined with the exposed land bridges due to sea-level decline, might have jointly caused the bidirectional plant exchanges between East Asia and other Northern Hemisphere regions. East Asia serves as evolutionary museums and cradles for the diversity of Thalictroideae and likely for other herbaceous lineages.