Cintia Freitas and colleagues identified three main clades within the genus based on the nuclear WRKY gene family. The first of these, a group of species from the coastal Atlantic Forest region in Brazil all of which had been placed in "Attalea" in the narrow sense, they termed the "Attale"-like clade. This group was a sister to the other two clades. The second group, which they called the "Scheelea"-like clade, consisted of most of the species formerly placed in "Scheelea", together with several that had been placed in "Attalea" (narrowly defined) and "Orbigyna". The third group consisted mainly of species formerly placed in "Orbigyna" and "Maximiliana"; they called this the "Orbigyna"-like clade. Despite the existence of three well-supported clades, Freitas and colleagues concluded that the concept of "Attalea" as a single genus was best supported by their evidence.