All the origin data set for the manuscript "The reconstructed evolutionary history of the Engelhardia spicata complex highlights the impact of three-tiered landform in the Indo-Burma ecoregion"

ABSTRACTPremise: The lateral displacement of the Indochina Peninsula, caused by the collision between the Indian and Asian tectonic plates, significantly altered the topography of the Indo-Burma ecoregion, affecting both its climate and biological evolution. This ecoregion has long fascinated biologists due to its intricate biodiversity. However, our understanding of the spatiotemporal evolutionary patterns and geological evolution of this area remains limited.Methods: We analyzed the Engelhardia spicata complex, which has a continuous distribution across Indo-Burma, based on a robust phylogenetic framework comprising 778 individuals from 80 populations, to illuminate its spatiotemporal and paleogeological evolution. We used ancestral area reconstruction to reconstruct the historical biogeography of the species complex, and to understand the broader evolutionary history of the Indo-Burma ecoregion.Results: An initial divergence within the E. spicata complex occurred around 26.62 million years ago, separating a lineage in the Truong Son Mountain Range from one found in the Hengduan Mountains and the Shan Plateau. The Shan Plateau and Hengduan Mountain lineages subsequently diverged around 23.03 Ma. Our study highlights a three-tiers of landform in the Indo-Burma ecoregion, characterized by high-elevation northern regions (the Hengduan Mountains and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau), intermediate-elevation central plateaus (the Shan Plateau), and low-elevation southern ranges (the south Truong Son Mountain Range).Conclusions: Our findings support the tectonic hypothesis that crustal thickening and lateral extrusion of Indochina occurred simultaneously during the Late Oligocene, which led to the formation of the Indo-Burma ecoregion, and highlights the significance of three-tiered landforms (north-to-south altitudinal gradients) in the Indo-Burma ecoregion, providing novel insights into biogeographic patterns in Southeast Asia.