The present thesis is part of the project: Understanding Madagascar Sapotaceae: a critical step towards conservation of a threatened group of prime importance trees, developed by the Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de Genève.

The study is focused on the subtribe Manilkarinae from Madagascar. The main objectives of the thesis were to: resolve the generic circumscription within the Manilkarinae; explore the relationships between the Manilkarinae genera; explore the evolutionary history within the subtribe, by conducting divergence time estimations and ancestral characters states reconstruction; test species hypotheses within the different genera; understand pattern of speciation and provide a robust foundation for species delimitation and species conservation.

The thesis results are organized into three sections. The findings of the first section have been published in the journal Taxon in January 2023 while the two remaining sections are almost ready to be submitted for future publications.