Abstract
Of the 65 species of Campylopus known from tropical America, 33 are andine in distribution, 16 are found only in SE Brazil, 8 have wide ranges through Central and South America, 3 species are disjunct in SE-North America and Brazil, 3 are confined to the Caribbean and one species belongs to the circum-pacific and one to the tethyan element. For different parts of the Neotropics, the composition of phytogeographical elements is calculated. For the first time, bryophyte distributions are compared to the Pleistocene forest refuges proposed by zoologist and phanerogamists. The distribution of several rainforest species of Campylopus coincides with the major part of the montane refugia. Using an interpretation of the present-day ranges, a hypothetical survey is given of the origin and evolution of this genus in tropical South and Central America. The ranges of part of the species can be explained only by long distance dispersal, while the ranges of other species seem to be relictual.