EMPIRE: The Ellipse Model for Phylogenetic Inference of Range Evolution

2026 · doi:10.64898/2026.04.23.720387
preprint OA: closed
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The Ellipse Model for Phylogenetic Inference of Range Evolution (EMPIRE) reconstructs ancestral range ellipses, quantifies movement and splitting rates, and examines the spatial context of speciation in the Australian Sphenomorphinae skinks.

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The EMPIRE study introduces the Ellipse Model for Phylogenetic Inference of Range Evolution, a framework that describes how species’ geographic ranges evolve through movement and splitting of range ellipses, enabling reconstruction of ancestral range attributes and estimation of process rates such as expansion, elongation, and asymmetric range inheritance at speciation. The authors apply the model to the Australian Sphenomorphinae skinks, using their diversification history across ~36 million years of climatic change. They report that speciation events show positive association with aridification, while post-speciation daughter lineages do not display evidence of ecological partitioning. The paper’s caveat is that its conclusions are based on model assumptions and on a specific phylogenetic group and regional climatic context. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

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Abstract

A bstract Many phylogenetic models of historical biogeography exist for describing how lineages move and evolve over time. Here, we present the Ellipse Model for Phylogenetic Inference of Range Evolution ( empire ), which models the movement and splitting of species range ellipses in continuous space, summarizing important attributes of each range, such as its position, size, and orientation. The framework allows us to reconstruct ancestral range ellipses, investigate rates governing important processes like movement, expansion, and elongation, and examine the spatial context of speciation, including asymmetric range inheritance at cladogenesis. We apply empire to the Australian Sphenomorphinae, a group of skinks whose diversification has coincided with substantial climatic change over the past ~36 million years. We find that speciation events are positively associated with aridification, while daughter lineages post-speciation do not tend to show evidence of ecological partitioning.
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Abstract Many phylogenetic models of historical biogeography exist for describing how lineages move and evolve over time. Here, we present the Ellipse Model for Phylogenetic Inference of Range Evolution (empire), which models the movement and splitting of species range ellipses in continuous space, summarizing important attributes of each range, such as its position, size, and orientation. The framework allows us to reconstruct ancestral range ellipses, investigate rates governing important processes like movement, expansion, and elongation, and examine the spatial context of speciation, including asymmetric range inheritance at cladogenesis. We apply empire to the Australian Sphenomorphinae, a group of skinks whose diversification has coincided with substantial climatic change over the past ~36 million years. We find that speciation events are positively associated with aridification, while daughter lineages post-speciation do not tend to show evidence of ecological partitioning. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

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last seen: 2026-05-20T01:45:00.602351+00:00