Evaluate the collective function of references cited together in a given text segment.
Classify their combined role into one of the following categories: 'method', 'background', or 'result'.

Text:…from both monocots and eudicots pointing to the early origin of the diverging D-type cyclin groups and to the reported conservation of expression patterns and/or function of the corresponding genes within each clade (Vandepoele et al. 2002; Menges et al. 2007; De Almeida-Engler et al. 2009).
Category: