Ten false ideas about New Caledonia biogeography.

The biogeographical paradigm of New Caledonia has recently changed. Although this island is now considered by many as oceanic, its study is still often impeded by some old misconceptions concerning either regional geology or phylogenetic analysis of evolution and biogeography. I discuss ten points that I feel are especially detrimental, to help focus on the real debate and the real questions: (1) its geological history cannot be understood from the basement only; (2) the island submergence was not due simply to sea-level variation; (3) Zealandia/Tasmantis is not a lost continent; (4) short-distance dispersal is not equivalent to permanence on land; (5) long-distance dispersal is not the sole event opposing vicariance, but short-distance dispersal as well; (6) the occurrence of relicts does not prove biota permanence; (7) a major fault system was not observed in New Caledonia; (8) terranes are not rafts; (9) forest climatic refuges do not necessarily equate to centres of endemism or centres of diversity; and (10) New Caledonia is not only a sink but also a source. Study of New Caledonia will need to focus on old and non-relict clades and there is a need to improve the local fossil record.