Data from: Termites became the dominant decomposers of the tropics after two diversification pulses

Inferring insect diversification patterns is challenging due to the
incompleteness of the fossil record, but major evolutionary questions can
be addressed using thoroughly sampled phylogenetic trees. Here, we
investigated the diversification dynamics of termites from molecular
phylogenies that included 2,800 samples representing 1,377 putative
species of the nearly 3,000 described. Our analyses, employing both
likelihood and Bayesian birth-death models, consistently estimated
near-zero extinction rates despite fossil evidence of extinctions.
Consequently, we focused on net diversification rates and identified two
consistent rate shifts. The first shift occurred near the end of the
Cretaceous, likely illustrating the diversification of Kalotermitidae,
which were then outcompeted by the Neoisoptera. The second shift involved
multiple lineages of Neoisoptera, which diversified as they expanded
globally at the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Considering biogeographic
history, biotic and abiotic factors, our data indicate that termites rose
to dominance as the primary insect decomposers in tropical ecosystems in
response to global climatic shifts.