Data from: Soaring systematics: An evaluation of biogeography and flight behavior in dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) using phylogenomics

Dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) are descended from what
were most likely the first winged animals, which flew ~320 million years
ago (Ma). They comprise ~6400 extant species distributed across all
continents except Antarctica. Examination of long-standing hypotheses
regarding the role of flight behavior and wing morphology in shaping the
global distribution of odonates has been limited by spatial and taxonomic
scope. Here we leverage mobilized trait and distribution data derived from
specimens and literature combined with a uniquely comprehensive
target-enriched phylogeny (~940 loci) covering all families and 67 % of
recognized genera. Ancestral state reconstruction of flight behavior
strategies (“flyer” vs. “percher”) suggests the odonate ancestor was a
flyer, spending a majority of its time when active on the wing, with
multiple independent transitions to percher. Several transitions back to
the flyer behavior have also occurred. Aspect ratios for forewings and
hindwings showed a strong relationship between these traits and perching
and flying behavioral strategies. Divergence time estimation suggests the
crown age of Odonata to be 290-325 Ma. Bayesian biogeographical
evolutionary analysis of nine biogeographical realms provides a
preliminary biogeographical history for odonates spanning 325 Ma. Key
family-level splits occurred during the Jurassic and Cretaceous,
paralleling the increasing isolation of landmasses and the poleward drift
of the contemporary Australasian and Holarctic regions. Both behavioral
and morphological adaptations likely facilitated the distributional
success of select odonate lineages. This study lays the foundation for a
revised classification of odonates and a more complete understanding of
the influence of flight behavior and wing morphology in relation to
evolutionary processes shaping past and current odonate diversity.