Data from: Conquest of the deep, old and cold: an exceptional limpet radiation in Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the deepest, oldest and most diverse ancient lake in the world. Increased levels of species richness and endemicity in this lake are also found in molluscs and include the limpet family Acroloxidae with 25 endemic species. Members of this group generally inhabit the littoral, but have been recently found in the profundal and abyssal at hydrothermal vents and oil-seeps. Here, we use mitochondrial and nuclear data to provide a first phylogeny of the Lake Baikal limpet radiation and to date the beginning of intra-lacustrine diversification. Divergence time estimates suggests a significantly younger age for the species flock compared to lake age estimates and the beginning of extensive diversification is possibly related to the onset of present-day conditions. Phylogenetic relationships and ancestral state reconstructions do not clearly indicate when the profundal/abyssal was colonized but suggest a timeframe related to the formation of the abyssal in the northern basin.