Data from: Phylogenomic reconstruction of sportive lemurs (genus Lepilemur) recovered from mitogenomes with inferences for Madagascar biogeography

The family Lepilemuridae includes 26 species of sportive lemurs, most of which were recently described. The cryptic morphological differences confounded taxonomy until recent molecular studies; however, some species’ boundaries remain uncertain. To better understand the genus Lepilemur, we analyzed 35 complete mitochondrial genomes representing all recognized 26 sportive lemur taxa and estimated divergence dates. With our dataset we recovered 25 reciprocally monophyletic lineages, as well as an admixed clade containing L. mittermeieri and L. dorsalis. Using modern distribution data, an ancestral area reconstruction and an ecological vicariance analysis were performed to trace the history of diversification and to test biogeographic hypotheses. We estimated the initial split between the eastern and western Lepilemur clades to have occurred in the Miocene. Divergence of most species occurred from the Pliocene to the Pleistocene. The biogeographic patterns recovered in this study were better addressed with a combinatorial approach including climate, watersheds, and rivers. Generally, current climate and watershed hypotheses performed better for western and eastern clades, while speciation of northern clades was not adequately supported using the ecological factors incorporated in this study. Thus, multiple mechanisms likely contributed to the speciation and distribution patterns in Lepilemur

鼬狐猴科（Lepilemuridae）包含26种鼬狐猴，其中多数物种为近年定名。该类群隐蔽细微的形态差异曾长期困扰分类学研究，直至近年分子生物学研究取得突破，但目前仍有部分物种的分类界限尚未明确。为深入解析鼬狐猴属（Lepilemur）的演化关系，本研究分析了覆盖全部26个已确认鼬狐猴类群的35条完整线粒体基因组，并估算了其分化时间。基于本数据集，我们得到25个互惠单系演化支，同时获得一个包含米氏鼬狐猴（L. mittermeieri）与背纹鼬狐猴（L. dorsalis）的混合支系。结合现代分布数据，本研究开展了祖先区域重建与生态替代分析，以追溯鼬狐猴的多样化演化历史并验证相关生物地理学假说。经估算，东西部鼬狐猴支系的初始分化事件发生于中新世时期，多数物种的分化则集中于上新世至更新世期间。本研究揭示的生物地理格局，通过整合气候、流域与河流因素的组合分析可得到更合理的解释。总体而言，气候与流域假说对东西部支系的适配性更佳，而基于本研究纳入的生态因子，无法充分支撑北部支系的物种形成机制。综上，多种演化机制可能共同塑造了鼬狐猴的物种形成与分布格局。