RHODOPSALTA EVOLUTIONARY SCENARIOS

Rhodopsalta microdora split from its congeners ~5.5 Mya according to the *BEAST analysis (see Fig. 4), at the beginning of the Pliocene epoch. At this time, NI was separated from SI by a wide sea strait, the Manawatu Strait (Fig. 1). We suggest a few hypotheses to shed light on the potential evolutionary scenarios for Rhodopsalta . These scenarios are based on mean date estimates, but alternative scenarios might be supported if the true dates are substantially different for reasons noted above.