The Macaronesian bird-flowered element as a model system to study the evolution of ornithophilous floral traits

RESUMEN: El elemento defloresornitofilas en la regionMacaronesica com-prende al menos16 especiesenochogenerosquehan convergido, en ciertamedida, a unsindrome depolinizacionpor ornitofilia. Este articulo propor-ciona una revision yuna actualizacionsobre la evolucionde estas flores or-nitofilas. Tambien identificalas areasdonde se requiere mas investigacion yse describenposibles viaspara futuros trabajosdentro de este grupo. Por ul-timo, se analizan las caracteristicas de este elementocon el fin deconside-rarlas comoun sistema modelopara estudiar la evolucionde las caracteristi-cas floralesasociadas conla polinizacion por aves, asi como la aplicacion deeste conocimiento para su conservacion.Palabras clave: Canarina, sindrome de polinizacion ornitofila o por aves, hi-potesis de novo , Echium , Isoplexis, Lotus, Navea , paseriformes generalistas.ABSTRACT: The Macaronesian bird-flowered element comprises at least16 species from eight genera and they have converged,to a certain degree,toa bird pollination syndrome. This paper provides a review and an update re-garding the evolution of the bird-flowered element.It also identifies areaswhere our knowledge of this group is lacking and describes potential avenuesfor further research within this group. Finally, the characteristics of this bird-flowered element are discussed in order to consider them as a model systemto study the evolution of the floral traitsinvolved in bird pollination, and theapplication of this knowledge for conservation purposes.Keywords: