Data supporting the study: Multiple dating methods and insights from the fossil record reveal that bark beetles predate the angiosperm terrestrial revolution

Estimating the time origin of a given clade is not trivial. Most dating
studies rely on a node dating approach, which is highly sensitive to
fossil placement uncertainties. A perfect example of that can be found in
bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Molecular dating of the
subfamily has mostly been anchored to a single fossil, †Cylindrobrotus
pectinatus (125.77–121.4 Ma). Although this fossil is often used as a
calibration point on the stem node of the subfamily, its phylogenetic
position has never been rigorously tested through formal analyses, casting
uncertainty over previous estimates. Here, we rely on total-evidence
dating, integrating morphological and molecular data along with 19
well-preserved scolytine fossils, to refine the divergence time estimates
of the subfamily. We additionally used a traditional node dating approach,
as well as the Bayesian Brownian Bridge model, to independently analyze
species-level fossil occurrences of Scolytinae and compared our results.
Under the same priors and with †C. pectinatus included, the Bayesian
Brownian Bridge produced ages in line with those of total-evidence dating.
However, when †C. pectinatus is excluded, ages are later of about ~100 Ma
than in total-evidence dating and node dating analyses. In our case,
total-evidence with different clock parameters for each gene and the
morphological data, appeared more appropriate than node dating for
estimating the age of Scolytinae when using a phylogenetic framework.
Additionally, our results suggest that †C. pectinatus is more closely
related to Dryocoetini s. l. or Ipini–Dryocoetini s. l. clades rather than
being a stem lineage of Scolytinae. Across all analyses, when †C.
pectinatus is considered inside the subfamily, Scolytinae are constantly
inferred to have originated at least 131.2 Ma, predating the Angiosperm
Terrestrial Revolution. These results highlight the importance of
integrating multiple dating approaches to mitigate biases inherent to any
single method, ultimately leading to more reliable divergence estimates.