Mammalian diversification bursts and biotic turnovers are synchronous with Cenozoic geoclimatic events in Asia

We provide a temporal framework on the relative roles of in situ speciation and historical colonization events in shaping mammal assemblages across Asia. About one-quarter of all colonization events initiated in the tropical forests of Southern Asia, which represents the primary source of mammal lineages. In contrast, our fauna-wide approach reveals that mountain hotspots surrounding the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau acted mainly as accumulation centers rather than as centers of diversification. We further show that the evolution of Asia's mammal faunas was temporally congruent with other groups and was triggered by common geoclimatic events such as tectonic continental collisions and mountain uplift.