Dataset for: The biogeography of extant lungfishes traces the breakup of Gondwana

Aim: Lungfishes are one of the two surviving clades from the once
diverse grade of lobe-finned fishes leading to tetrapods. This classic
living fossil lineage, which is the living sister to four-limbed
terrestrial vertebrates, appeared approximately 425 million years ago and
rapidly diversified. However, the evolution of lungfishes after their
initial radiation is poorly understood, and whether their present
distribution tracks ancient geographic change is a classic problem in
biogeography. Location: Global Taxon: Lungfishes
(Dipnoi) Methods: Here, we combine mitogenomic, nuclear gene, and
fossil data to reconstruct the timing of lungfish diversification, and
integrate fossil species in a Bayesian tip-dating approach to
quantitatively test hypotheses of lungfish historical biogeography and
divergence times. We sample all major living and extinct lungfish
lineages, including three of the four species of African lungfishes
(Protopterus spp.), the Australian lungfish Neoceratodus forsteri, the
South American lungfish Lepidosiren paradoxa, and 13 fossils representing
extinct lineages from across the globe. Results: Our results
demonstrate that the divergences of the three major living lungfish clades
closely recapitulate the stepwise fragmentation of the Gondwana during the
Mesozoic. All of our model-based biogeographic reconstructions support a
Gondwanan vicariance model for the origins of the present distribution of
lungfish lineages. Conclusions: In turn, lungfishes provide an
excellent example of how the integration of fossil data may drastically
change support for historical biogeographic hypotheses previously
discounted by molecular data and are one of the few living animal lineages
that record incredibly ancient geographic changes in their phylogeny.