structural:scholar_edition, structural:expansion, stylistic:tone
Evolution

Bromeliads are among the more recent plant groups to have emerged. They are thought to have originated in the tepuis of the Guiana Shield approximately 100 million years ago. The greatest number of extant basal species are found in the Andean highlands of South America. However, the family did not diverge into its extant subfamilies until 19 million years ago. The long period between the origin and diversification of bromeliads, during which no extant species evolved, suggests that there was much speciation and extinction during that time, which would explain the genetic distance of the Bromeliaceae from other families within the Poales.

Based on molecular phylogenetic studies, the family is divided into eight subfamilies. The relationship among them is shown in the following cladogram.

The most basal genus, Brocchinia (subfamily Brocchinioideae), is endemic to the Guiana Shield, and is placed as the sister group to the remaining genera in the family. The subfamilies Lindmanioideae and Navioideae are endemic to the Guiana Shield as well.

The West African species Pitcairnia feliciana is the only bromeliad not endemic to the Americas, and is thought to have reached Africa via long-distance dispersal about 12 million years ago.