Data from: Large-scale phylogeny of chameleons suggests African origins and Eocene diversification

Oceanic dispersal has emerged as an important factor contributing to
biogeographic patterns in numerous taxa. Chameleons are a clear example of
this, as they are primarily found in Africa and Madagascar, but the age of
the family is post-Gondwanan break-up. A Malagasy origin for the family
has been suggested, yet this hypothesis has not been tested using modern
biogeographic methods with a dated phylogeny. To examine competing
hypotheses of African and Malagasy origins, we generated a dated phylogeny
using between six and 13 genetic markers, for up to 174 taxa representing
greater than 90 per cent of all named species. Using three different
ancestral-state reconstruction methods (Bayesian and likelihood
approaches), we show that the family most probably originated in Africa,
with two separate oceanic dispersals to Madagascar during the Palaeocene
and the Oligocene, when prevailing oceanic currents would have favoured
eastward dispersal. Diversification of genus-level clades took place in
the Eocene, and species-level diversification occurred primarily in the
Oligocene. Plio-Pleistocene speciation is rare, resulting in a phylogeny
dominated by palaeo-endemic species. We suggest that contraction and
fragmentation of the Pan-African forest coupled to an increase in open
habitats (savannah, grassland, heathland), since the Oligocene played a
key role in diversification of this group through vicariance.