Data from: Out of the tropics: Macroevolutionary size trends in an old insect order are shaped by temperature and predators

Global body size distributions are shaped by selection pressures arising
from biotic and abiotic factors such as temperature, predation and
parasitism. Here, we investigated the ecological and evolutionary drivers
of global latitudinal size gradients in an old insect order (Odonata;
dragonflies and damselflies). Phylogenetic comparative analyses revealed
that global size variation of extant taxa is negatively influenced by both
regional avian diversity and temperature. Interestingly, fossil data show
that the relationship between wing size and latitude has shifted:
latitudinal size trends had initially negative slopes but became shallower
or positive following the emergence of birds 150 MYA. These changing
size-latitude trends over geological time were likely driven by bird
predation and high dispersal ability of large dragonflies. Our results
therefore suggest that latitudinal size gradients were shaped by
temperature but also by predators driving the dispersal of large-sized
clades out of the tropics and in to the temperate zone.