Ecological opportunity spurred adaptive radiation of Central Mexican Silversides: Evidence from functional and morphometric traits

Dispersal to a geographic area or colonizing a new habitat can lead to ecological opportunity, which predicts that in absent or reduced competition, lineages can diversify to exploit available resources, ultimately leading to adaptive radiation. We investigated the role of colonizing new environments with novel community contexts in Central Mexican Silversides, a putative adaptive radiation. We explored macroevolutionary dynamics of speciation and phenotypic evolution across New World Silversides in different community settings. We analyzed geometric morphometric, linear, and functional traits, three classes of morphological data rarely evaluated jointly in a single group. We found that Central Mexican Silversides, which occupy a region characterized by low species richness, and isolated freshwater habitats, experienced elevated rates of phenotypic evolution and speciation. In the absence of ecological opportunity, other lineages of Menidiinae experienced constant evolutionary rates thr..., , # Ecological opportunity spurred adaptive radiation of Central Mexican Silversides: Evidence from functional and morphometric traits

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.nvx0k6f4k](10.5061/dryad.nvx0k6f4k)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset contains phylogenetic trees, trait data, BAMM analyses, specimen catalog numbers, and supporting scripts used in the study of adaptive radiation in Central Mexican Silversides. Data files are organized to correspond with the analyses presented in the manuscript, which investigates the role of ecological opportunity in shaping functional and morphological diversification of Central Mexican Silversides.
### Files and variables

#### File: alternative_calibration_treefile.tree

**Description:** Bloom et al. 2013 phylogeny with alternative time calibration used in our comparative analyses.

#### File: BAMM_speciation_outputs.RData

**Description:** output files used in the speciation rate analyses.

#### File: Bloom_etal_2013_trimmed_tr...,