Inferences from the Historical Distribution of Wild and Domesticated Maize Provide Ecological and Evolutionary Insight (original) (raw)

Background: The species Zea mays includes both domesticated maize (ssp. mays) and its closest wild relatives known as the teosintes. While genetic and archaeological studies have provided a well-established history of Z. mays evolution, there is currently minimal description of its current and past distribution. Here, we implemented species distribution modeling using paleoclimatic models of the last interglacial (LI; ,135,000 BP) and the last glacial maximum (LGM; ,21,000 BP) to hindcast the distribution of Zea mays subspecies over time and to revisit current knowledge of its phylogeography and evolutionary history.