Data and Code for: From Coexistence to Uniqueness – A Global Framework for Niche Overlap and Originality

This study presents a global assessment of how ecological and evolutionary processes shape species’ environmental distinctiveness (niche originality) and patterns of regional co-occurrence. Leveraging a newly developed database—BioOverlap—we quantified climatic niche and geographic range overlap for over 16,000 terrestrial and marine species spanning 20 major taxonomic groups. Our analyses reveal that niche originality is largely determined by ecological factors, particularly niche breadth and climatic heterogeneity, rather than by evolutionary distinctiveness. In contrast, regional species coexistence is strongly predicted by climatic niche similarity, emphasizing the central role of environmental filtering in structuring biodiversity at broad spatial scales. These findings challenge common assumptions linking phylogenetic rarity to ecological uniqueness and underscore the importance of environmental context in driving biodiversity patterns. To support reproducibility and further exploration, we provide all scripts and datasets used in this study, along with a focused case study on amphibians to illustrate our analytical framework in detail