Data from: Climate and host plant associations shaped the evolution of ceutorhynch weevils throughout the Cenozoic

Using molecular phylogenetic data and methods we infer divergence times and diversification patterns for the weevil subfamily Ceutorhynchinae in the context of host-plant associations and global climate over evolutionary time. We detected four major diversification shifts that correlate with both host shifts and major climate events. Ceutorhynchinae experienced an increase in diversification rate at ~53 Ma, during the Early Eocene Climate Optimum, coincident with a host shift to Lamiaceae. A second major diversification phase occurred at the end of the Eocene (~34 Ma). This contrasts with the overall deterioration in climate equability at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, but tracks the diversification of important host plant clades in temperate (higher) latitudes, leading to increased diversification rates in the weevil clades infesting temperate hosts. A third major phase of diversification is correlated with the rising temperatures of the Late Oligocene Warming Event (~26.5 Ma); diversification rates then declined shortly after the Middle Miocene Climate Transition (~14.9 Ma). Our results indicate that biotic and abiotic factors together explain the evolution of Ceutorhynchinae better than each of these drivers viewed in isolation.

本研究利用分子系统发育数据（molecular phylogenetic data）与分析方法，在演化时间尺度下结合寄主植物关联与全球气候背景，对筒喙象亚科（Ceutorhynchinae）的分化时间与多样化演化模式进行推断。我们检测到四次主要的演化辐射转变，其既与寄主转移事件相关，也与重大气候事件存在关联。筒喙象亚科的演化辐射速率在约53 Ma的始新世早期气候适宜期（Early Eocene Climate Optimum）出现提升，这与该类群向唇形科（Lamiaceae）的寄主转移相吻合。第二次主要演化辐射阶段发生在渐新世末期（约34 Ma），该结果与始新世-渐新世界线处全球气候稳定性整体下降的趋势形成鲜明反差；但此阶段对应了温带（高纬度）地区重要寄主植物支系的多样化过程，进而使得取食温带寄主的象甲支系演化辐射速率得以提升。第三次主要演化辐射阶段与渐新世晚期变暖事件（Late Oligocene Warming Event，约26.5 Ma）期间的气温回升存在相关性；随后在中新世中期气候转型期（Middle Miocene Climate Transition，约14.9 Ma）之后不久，演化辐射速率出现下降。本研究结果表明，相较于单独考量生物或非生物驱动因子，二者结合能够更充分地解释筒喙象亚科的演化历程。