Data from: Phylogenomic reconstruction of sportive lemurs (genus Lepilemur) recovered from mitogenomes with inferences for Madagascar biogeography

The family Lepilemuridae includes 26 species of sportive lemurs, most of which were recently described. The cryptic morphological differences confounded taxonomy until recent molecular studies; however, some species’ boundaries remain uncertain. To better understand the genus Lepilemur, we analyzed 35 complete mitochondrial genomes representing all recognized 26 sportive lemur taxa and estimated divergence dates. With our dataset we recovered 25 reciprocally monophyletic lineages, as well as an admixed clade containing L. mittermeieri and L. dorsalis. Using modern distribution data, an ancestral area reconstruction and an ecological vicariance analysis were performed to trace the history of diversification and to test biogeographic hypotheses. We estimated the initial split between the eastern and western Lepilemur clades to have occurred in the Miocene. Divergence of most species occurred from the Pliocene to the Pleistocene. The biogeographic patterns recovered in this study were better addressed with a combinatorial approach including climate, watersheds, and rivers. Generally, current climate and watershed hypotheses performed better for western and eastern clades, while speciation of northern clades was not adequately supported using the ecological factors incorporated in this study. Thus, multiple mechanisms likely contributed to the speciation and distribution patterns in Lepilemur

鼬狐猴科（Lepilemuridae）包含26种鼬狐猴，其中绝大多数类群为近年所定名。其隐蔽的形态差异曾长期困扰分类学研究，直至近期分子生物学研究取得突破才得以厘清；但目前仍有部分物种的分类边界尚未明确。为深入解析鼬狐猴属（Lepilemur）的演化关系，本研究分析了涵盖全部26个已确认鼬狐猴类群的35条完整线粒体基因组，并估算了类群的分化时间。基于本数据集，我们恢复出25个互惠单系支系，以及一个包含米氏鼬狐猴（L. mittermeieri）和背纹鼬狐猴（L. dorsalis）的混合支系。结合现代分布数据，我们开展了祖先区域重建与生态替代分析，以追溯其多样化演化历史并验证相关生物地理假说。研究估算，东西部鼬狐猴支系的最初分化事件发生于中新世时期；多数物种的分化则集中于上新世至更新世时段。本研究得到的生物地理格局，需结合气候、流域与河流等多因素的组合分析才能得到更合理的解释。总体而言，气候与流域假说对东西部支系的分布格局解释效果更佳，而本研究纳入的生态因子未能充分支持北部支系的物种形成机制。因此，多种演化机制可能共同塑造了鼬狐猴属的物种形成与分布格局。