Reconstructing the evolution and biogeographic history of tribe Cardueae (Compositae)

Most diversification events within Cardueae are related to the continuous cycles of area connection and division between the Anatolian microplate and the western Mediterranean Basin during the Oligocene-Miocene and with the uplift of the Himalayan range from the Miocene onward. From these two regions, thistles dispersed and colonized the rest of the continents (e.g., the New World, Africa, and Australia), most likely during the colder Pliocene-Pleistocene period.