Tropical origin, global diversification and dispersal in the pond damselflies (Coenagrionoidea) revealed by a new molecular phylogeny

The processes responsible for the formation of Earth’s most conspicuous diversity pattern, the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG), remain unexplored for many clades in the Tree of Life. Here, we present a densely-sampled and dated molecular phylogeny for the most speciose clade of damselflies worldwide (Odonata: Coenagrionoidea), and investigate the role of time, macroevolutionary processes and biome-shift dynamics in shaping the LDG in this ancient insect superfamily. We used process-based biogeographic models to jointly infer ancestral ranges and speciation times, and to characterise within-biome dispersal and biome-shift dynamics across the cosmopolitan distribution of Coenagrionoidea. We also investigated temporal and biome-dependent variation in diversification rates. Our results uncover a tropical origin of pond damselflies and featherlegs ~ 105 Ma, while highligthing uncertainty of ancestral ranges within the tropics in deep time. Even though diversification rates have declined..., Data collection processing and analyses are described in full in the Supplementary Material (PhyloSupporting_SysBio_R1.pdf), All the code used in this study is recorded and described in the file COENPhylo_R1.html, # Tropical origin, global diversification and dispersal in the pond damselflies (Coenagrionoidea) revealed by a new molecular phylogeny This README file was generated on 2024-01-29 by Beatriz Willink. GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Title of Dataset: Tropical origin, global diversification and dispersal in the pond damselflies \(Coenagrionoidea\) revealed by a new molecular phylogeny 2. Author Information A. Principal Investigator Contact Information Name: Beatriz Willink Institution: Stockholm University Address: Stockholm, Sweden Email: [e-mail] B. Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information Name: Jessica L. Ware Institution: American Museum of Natural History Address: NY, NY USA Email: [e-mail] C. Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information Name: Erik I. Svensson Institution: Lund University Address: Lund, Sweden Email: [e-mail] 3. Date of data collection (single date, ran...