Data from: Global phylogenetic structure of the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole reveals the repeated evolution of macroecological patterns

Adaptive radiations are of particular interest owing to what they reveal about the ecological and evolutionary regulation of biodiversity. This applies to localized island radiations such as Darwin's finches, and also to rapid radiations occurring on a global scale. Here we analyse the macroevolution and macroecology of Pheidole, a famously hyperdiverse and ecologically dominant ant genus. We generate and analyse four novel datasets: (i) a robust global phylogeny including 285 Pheidole species, (ii) a global database on regional Pheidole richness in 365 political areas summarizing over 97 000 individual records from more than 6500 studies, (iii) a global database of Pheidole richness from 3796 local communities and (iv) a database of Pheidole body sizes across species. Analysis of the potential climate drivers of richness revealed that the patterns are statistically very similar across different biogeographic regions, with both regional and local richness associated with the same coefficients of temperature and precipitation. This similarity occurs even though phylogenetic analysis shows that Pheidole reached dominance in communities through serial localized radiations into different biomes within different continents and islands. Pheidole body size distributions have likewise converged across geographical regions. We propose these cases of convergence indicate that the global radiation of Pheidole is structured by deterministic factors regulating diversification and diversity.

适应辐射（adaptive radiation）因其揭示了生物多样性的生态与进化调控机制而备受学界关注。这一研究价值既适用于达尔文地雀这类局域性岛屿适应辐射类群，也适用于全球尺度下发生的快速适应辐射事件。本研究针对大头蚁属（Pheidole）——这一公认的物种多样性极高且在生态系统中占据主导地位的蚁属——开展了宏演化与宏生态学分析。我们构建并分析了四组全新数据集：（1）涵盖285个大头蚁物种的可靠全球系统发育树；（2）覆盖365个行政区域的大头蚁属物种丰富度全球数据库，整合了来自6500余项研究的97000余条原始记录；（3）基于3796个本地群落的大头蚁属物种丰富度全球数据库；（4）跨物种的大头蚁体型数据库。针对物种丰富度潜在气候驱动因子的分析显示，不同生物地理区域的物种丰富度格局在统计学上高度相似，区域和本地的丰富度均与温度、降水的相关系数保持一致。尽管系统发育分析表明，大头蚁属通过在不同大陆与岛屿的不同生物群系中发生一系列局域适应辐射，最终在群落中占据主导地位，但上述格局相似性依然存在。大头蚁的体型分布格局同样在不同地理区域间发生了趋同演化。本研究认为，这些趋同演化案例表明，大头蚁属的全球适应辐射过程受到调控物种分化与多样性的确定性因子所塑造。