Marine biodiversity hotspots have changed their location and richness over geological time scales. This review aims to outline the dynamics of tropical marine biodiversity hotspots throughout the Cenozoic (the last ~66 million years). Focusing on four major hotspots in the Indo-Australian Archipelago, the western Tethys Sea (the present Mediterranean Sea), the Arabian Sea and the Caribbean Sea, our review suggests that the locations of peak biodiversity track broadscale availability of shallow marine habitats and high coastal complexity that have been created by the collision of tectonic plates. These natural patterns have been disrupted by human disturbances in more recent times.
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August