Data from: Key innovations and island colonization as engines of evolutionary diversification: a comparative test with the Australasian diplodactyloid geckos

The acquisition of key innovations and the invasion of new areas constitute two major processes that facilitate ecological opportunity and subsequent evolutionary diversification. Using a major lizard radiation as a model, the Australasian diplodactyloid geckos, we explored the effects of two key innovations (adhesive toepads and a snake-like phenotype) and the invasion of new environments (island colonization) in promoting the evolution of phenotypic and species diversity. We found no evidence that toepads had significantly increased evolutionary diversification, which challenges the common assumption that the evolution of toepads has been responsible for the extensive radiation of geckos. In contrast, a snakelike phenotype was associated with increased rates of body size evolution and, to a lesser extent, species diversification. However, the clearest impact on evolutionary diversification has been the colonization of New Zealand and New Caledonia, which were associated with increased rates of both body size evolution and species diversification. This highlights that colonizing new environments can drive adaptive diversification in conjunction or independently of the evolution of a key innovation. Studies wishing to confirm the putative link between a key innovation and subsequent evolutionary diversification must therefore show that it has been the acquisition of an innovation specifically, not the colonization of new areas more generally, that has prompted diversification.

关键创新的演化获得与新区域拓殖，是两大推动生态机会形成及后续演化辐射的核心过程。本研究以澳大拉西亚双趾虎类壁虎（Australasian diplodactyloid geckos）这一大型蜥蜴辐射演化类群为模型，探究了两项关键创新——粘附式趾垫（adhesive toepads）与蛇形表型（snake-like phenotype），以及新环境拓殖（island colonization）对表型多样性与物种多样性演化的驱动作用。研究结果显示，并无证据表明粘附式趾垫显著提升了演化辐射速率，这一结论挑战了“趾垫演化是壁虎类群大规模辐射演化的核心驱动力”这一主流学术假设。与之形成对比的是，蛇形表型与体型演化速率的提升显著相关，且对物种多样性演化的推动作用相对较弱。不过，对演化辐射影响最为显著的因素则是新西兰与新喀里多尼亚的殖民拓殖，该过程与体型演化及物种多样性演化速率的双重提升均存在显著关联。这一结果表明，拓殖新环境既可以与关键创新的演化协同推动适应性辐射，也可独立发挥驱动作用。因此，若要验证关键创新与后续演化辐射之间的假定关联，相关研究必须证明，驱动辐射演化的核心因素是关键创新的获得本身，而非更宽泛意义上的新区域拓殖。