REAPPROACHING THE CENTRE OF ORIGIN THEORY: A CASE STUDY OF SIGANID FISHES (ACTINISTIA: SIGANIDAE)

A new statistical technique able to localize nestedness within a matrix is used to reapproach the 'centre of origin' concept. Finding that nestedness is concentrated in a particular sector of a matrix indicates that widespread species tend to be present in the species-richest area. A 'centre of origin' hypothesis, which assumes that species have a common place of origin corresponding to the richest area within the most ordered sector of the matrix and then spread through different localities (i.e. the rest of the matrix), appears as the most likely explanation to this pattern. Global distribution of siganid fishes is used to present this new approach, adding further momentum to the debate about the Indo-Malaysian-Philippine Archipelago centre of origin.