Data from: Borneo and Indochina are major evolutionary hotspots for Southeast Asian biodiversity

Tropical Southeast Asia harbors extraordinary species richness and in its
entirety comprises four of the Earth’s 34 biodiversity hotspots. Here, we
examine the assembly of the Southeast Asian biota through time and space.
We conduct meta-analyses of geological, climatic and biological (including
61 phylogenetic) datasets to test which areas have been the sources of
long-term biological diversity in SE Asia, particularly in the
pre-Miocene, Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene, and whether the respective
biota have been dominated by in situ diversification, immigration and/or
emigration, or equilibrium dynamics. We identify Borneo and Indochina, in
particular, as major ‘evolutionary hotspots’ for a diverse range of fauna
and flora. While most of the region’s biodiversity is a result of both the
accumulation of immigrants and in situ diversification, within-area
diversification and subsequent emigration have been the predominant
signals characterizing Indochina and Borneo’s biota since at least the
early Miocene. In contrast, colonization events are comparatively rare
from younger volcanically active emergent islands such as Java, which show
increased levels of immigration events. Few dispersal events were observed
across the major biogeographic barrier of Wallace’s Line. Accelerated
efforts to conserve Borneo’s flora and fauna in particular, currently
housing the highest levels of Southeast Asian plant and mammal species
richness, are critically required.