Punctuated versus gradual shifts in the multivariate evolutionary process: a test with paired radiations of scincid lizards

As lineages become separated in time, they are expected to accumulate mutational (or developmental-genetic) differences that influence the macroevolutionary trajectories of those lineages even under similar environmental conditions. Here, we compare the dynamics of phenotypic evolution in radiations of scincid lizards from Australia and Madagascar that are separated by more than 100 million years of independent evolution and show rampant phenotypic parallelism. We collected linear measurements of the skull, limbs, and limb girdles from micro-CT scans of 94 Australian and 29 Malagasy species. Using multivariate comparative methods, we tested whether the underlying evolutionary covariance structure for this superficial parallelism was conserved and whether these patterns were consistent across distinct functional modules. Malagasy and most Australian skinks have similar covariance matrices for skull evolution. Results are ambiguous for limbs and limb girdles, as some trait subsets support..., , , # Data from: Punctuated versus gradual shifts in the multivariate evolutionary process: a test with paired radiations of scincid lizards

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6wwpzgn65](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6wwpzgn65)

This data package contains the data, R scripts, and supplemental materials associated with \"Punctuated versus gradual shifts in the multivariate evolutionary process: a test with paired radiations of scincid lizards\" by Stepanova et al. These files include museum specimen information, phenotypic data, R scripts, and results files.  CT scans of UMMZ specimens are available on University of Michigan Deep Blue Data Repository ([https://doi.org/10.7302/wj1k-kp72](https://doi.org/10.7302/wj1k-kp72)) and CT scans of non-UMMZ specimens are available on MorphoSource ([https://www.morphosource.org/projects/000699053?locale=en](https://www.morphosource.org/projects/000699053?locale=en)).

## Description of the data and file structure

**corhmm folder** contains all files related...