The pantropical family Rhizophoraceae comprises 15 genera and about 140 species of which four genera and about 17 species are mangroves. Several of the genera have representatives in the Old and New World such as the mangrove genus Rhizophora and the terrestrial genus Cassipourea. We have reconstructed the phylogeny of the family using multiple data sets (rbcL, atpB-rbcL, trnL-trnF, ITS1 and 2). In order to calibrate the molecular data set, fossil information as well as tectonic vicariance events were used. We have used both maximum likelihood analysis and Bayesian inference to reconstruct and calibrate the phylogeny. Results show that the family can be clearly subdivided into three distinct subfamilies. Calibrations indicate that the intercontinental disjunctions in both Cassipourea and Rhizophora are due to long distance dispersals. Furthermore, the combination of fossil and phylogenetic data for Rhizophora suggests that the New World was colonized at least twice by different lineages of Rhizophora.

Key words: Bayesian inference, long distance dispersal, mangroves, Rhizophoraceae