Evolutionary déjà vu? A case of convergent evolution in an ant-plant association

Obligatory ant-plant symbioses often appear to be single evolutionary shifts within particular ant lineages; however, convergence can be revealed once natural history observations are complemented with molecular phylogenetics. Here we describe a remarkable example of convergent evolution in an ant-plant symbiotic system. Exclusively arboreal, Myrmelachista species can be generalized opportunists nesting in several plant species or obligately symbiotic, live-stem nesters of a narrow set of plant species. Instances of specialization within Myrmelachista are known from northern South America and throughout Middle America. In Middle America, a diverse radiation of specialists occupies understory treelets of lowland rainforests. The morphological and behavioural uniformity of specialists suggests that they form a monophyletic assemblage, diversifying after a single origin of specialization. Using ultraconserved element phylogenomics and ancestral state reconstruction, we show that shifts fro..., , , # Data for: Evolutionary déjà vu? A case of convergent evolution in an ant-plant association

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4j0zpc8m9](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4j0zpc8m9)

#### Complete set of UCE contigs

The file includes the complete set of 2103 aligned UCE contigs for 45 taxa. The alignments are provided as invidual FASTA files (i.e., one file per specimen).

File name: uce-contigs.zip
File list: *Brachymyrmex_admotus_EXRP163.contigs.fasta
Brachymyrmex_cf._aphidicola_EXRP168.contigs.fasta
Brachymyrmex_depilis_EXRP169.contigs.fasta
Brachymyrmex_heeri_EXRP182.contigs.fasta
Brachymyrmex_nebulosus_EXRP181.contigs.fasta
Brachymyrmex_pilipes_EXRP174.contigs.fasta
Lasius_sitiens_EX1585.contigs.fasta
Myrmelachista_RSP011_EXRP166.contigs.fasta
Myrmelachista_RSP014_EXRP56.contigs.fasta
Myrmelachista_RSP020_EXRP137.contigs.fasta
Myrmelachista_RSP024_EXRP97.contigs.fasta
Myrmelachista_RSP026_EX819.contigs.fasta
Myrmelachista_RSP027_EXRP1.contigs.fasta
Myrmelachista_RSP056_EXRP6.contigs.fa...