Physalinae includes 12 genera, some of which are of difficult circumscription.
We infer relationships, divergence times, and areas of ancestral distribution in Physalinae.
We increased DNA data with five plastid regions but the poor resolution remains.
Physalinae diverged at the end of the Miocene and more intensively in the last 5 My.
The most probable ancestral area of Physalinae is a combination of the Neotropical and Mexican Transition Zone.