Data from: Leapfrogging the Mexican highlands: influence of biogeographical and ecological factors on the diversification of highland species

In order to understand the processes that generate and maintain diversity,
it is important to disentangle the roles of ecology and geography in
speciation. We investigated the biogeographical and ecological factors
that influenced the diversification of tree frogs (genus Sarcohyla) in the
Mexican highlands, a region with high levels of endemism. Using single
nucleotide polymorphism data for 58 samples, we found support for seven
distinct genetic clusters within the Sarcohyla bistincta species complex,
corresponding to Sarcohyla calthula, Sarcohyla pentheter and five
populations within S. bistincta. A species tree analysis using the
multispecies coalescent model did not support the monophyly of the five S.
bistincta populations. We used niche modelling to calculate the ecological
overlap among lineages; we found a degree of overlapping for most of the
lineages, suggesting that ecological differentiation did not play a key
role in their genetic divergence. Speciation and population structure in
the complex have been shaped primarily by geological events, landscape
modifications and climate changes during the Pleistocene. We discuss the
relevance of genetic diversity for inferring the degree of species threats
and recovery for conservation assessments.