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The Guineo‐Congolian region in Africa constitutes the second largest area of tropical rainforest (TRF) in the world. It covered an estimated 15–22 million km² during the late Miocene (55–11 Ma) and it has experienced since a declining trend, currently reaching 3.4 million km², associated with increasing aridification and the replacement of TRF by savanna habitats. Here, we examine whether rainforest area contraction led to a decrease in net diversification rates linked to increasing extinction, or if it is associated with increasing opportunities for allopatric or ecological speciation during periods of forest fragmentation.

Tropical Africa, Guineo‐Congolian region.

Anthonotha, Englerodendron, Berlinia clade (Leguminosae).

We used a target enrichment approach combined with a complete data set representing all genera within the Berlinia clade. We combined phylogenomic, dating …