Data from: Coral reefs as drivers of cladogenesis: expanding coral reefs, cryptic extinction events, and the development of biodiversity hotspots

Diversification rates within four conspicuous coral reef fish families
(Labridae, Chaetodontidae, Pomacentridae, Apogonidae) were estimated using
Bayesian inference. Lineage through time plots revealed a possible late
Eocene/early Oligocene cryptic extinction event coinciding with the
collapse of the ancestral Tethyan/Arabian hotspot. Rates of
diversification analysis revealed elevated cladogenesis in all families in
the Oligocene/Miocene. Throughout the Miocene, lineages with a high
percentage of coral reef associated taxa display significantly higher net
diversification rates than expected. The development of a complex mosaic
of reef habitats in the Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA) during the
Oligocene/Miocene appears to have been a significant driver of
cladogenesis. Patterns of diversification suggest that coral reefs acted
as a refuge from high extinction, as reef taxa are able to sustain
diversification at high extinction rates. The IAA appears to support both
cladogenesis and survival in associated lineages, laying the foundation
for the Recent IAA marine biodiversity hotspot.