Data from: A time-calibrated species tree of Crocodylia reveals a recent radiation of the true crocodiles

True crocodiles (Crocodylus) are the most broadly distributed,
ecologically diverse, and species-rich crocodylian genus, comprising about
half of extant crocodylian diversity and exhibiting a circumtropical
distribution. Crocodylus traditionally has been viewed as an ancient group
of morphologically conserved species that originated in Africa prior to
continental breakup. In this study, these long-held notions about the
temporal and geographic origin of Crocodylus are tested using DNA sequence
data of 10 loci from 76 individuals representing all 23 crocodylian
species. I infer a time-calibrated species tree of all Crocodylia and
estimate the spatial pattern of diversification within Crocodylus. For the
first time, a fully resolved phylogenetic estimate of all Crocodylia is
well-supported. The results overturn traditional views of the evolution of
Crocodylus by demonstrating that the true crocodiles are not
"living-fossils" that originated in Africa. Rather, Crocodylus
originated from an ancestor in the tropics of the Late Miocene
Indo-Pacific, and rapidly radiated and dispersed around the globe during a
period marked by mass extinctions of fellow crocodylians. The findings
also reveal more diversity within the genus than is recognized by current
taxonomy.