Data from: Conquest of the deep, old and cold: an exceptional limpet radiation in Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the deepest, oldest and most speciose ancient lake in the
world. The lake is characterized by high levels of molluscan species
richness and endemicity, including the limpet family Acroloxidae with 25
endemic species. Members of this group generally inhabit the littoral
zone, but have been recently found in the abyssal zone at hydrothermal
vents and oil-seeps. Here, we use mitochondrial and nuclear data to
provide a first molecular phylogeny of the Lake Baikal limpet radiation,
and to date the beginning of intra-lacustrine diversification. Divergence
time estimates suggest a considerably younger age for the species flock
compared with lake age estimates, and the beginning of extensive
diversification is possibly related to rapid deepening and cooling during
rifting. Phylogenetic relationships and divergence time estimates do not
clearly indicate when exactly the abyssal was colonized but suggest a
timeframe coincident with the formation of the abyssal in the northern
basin (Middle to Late Pleistocene).