A comprehensive phylogeny of Pieridae butterflies reveals a strong correlation between diversification and temperature

Temperature is thought to be a key factor influencing global species
richness patterns. We investigate the link between temperature and
diversification in the butterfly Family Pieridae by combining
next-generation sequences and published molecular data with fine-grained
distribution data. We sampled nearly 600 pierid species to build the most
comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the Family and curated a distribution
dataset of more than 800,000 occurrences. We found strong evidence that
species in environments with more stable daily temperatures or cooler
maximum temperatures in the warm seasons have higher speciation rates.
Furthermore, speciation and extinction rates decreased in tandem with
global temperatures through geological time, resulting in a constant net
diversification.