DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3j9kd51tg
title: Data from: The role of host-range expansion and co-speciation in host-parasite associations with the divergence of the great tit species complex

description: During the evolution of parasites, co-speciation and host-range expansion
 are thought to play roles in establishing associations with hosts, while
 sorting events can lead to dissolution of those associations. To address
 the roles of these processes, we focus on avian haemosporidian parasites
 infecting hosts of the intensively studied great tit species complex. We
 estimated the phylogeography of lineages detected in the species complex,
 and quantified their transition probabilities among hosts. Lineages
 detected in different host species presented a strong geographical signal
 but do not form monophyletic groups. Yet, distributions of lineages are
 not merely the result of their dispersal limitation, as many lineages that
 infect only one of focal species can be found in birds sympatric with
 other focal species. Besides, closely related lineages that infect the
 same host species reach more similar rates of infection than expected by
 chance. Finally, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon lineages infecting P.
 major, the most recently dispersed species, were more generalized than
 others, in consistent with a pattern of generalist parasites expanded
 their host ranges by infecting newly encountered host species. Our results
 suggest that host-parasite associations in this system are mainly the
 result of sorting events and host-range expansion of parasites, rather
 than co-speciation.
description: Wild bird individuals were captured using mist net and blood
 samples were collected from the branchial vein. Haemosporidian infections
 were identified using a nested PCR protocol (Hellgren et al. 2004) which
 amplifies the 479bp barcoding segment of the mitochondrial<em> cyt
 b</em> of the parasites. All haemosporidian lineages previously
 recorded in the great tit species complex and contained in the MalAvi
 database (v.2.4.1, accessed in Sept 2021) were selected for a global
 infection pattern analysis. Host-parasite associations
 and transition probability of parasites among hosts were tested using
 multiple R packages, details can be found in attached R file.
description: # The role of host-range expansion and co-speciation in host-parasite
 associations with the divergence of the great tit species complex
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3j9kd51tg](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3j9kd51tg) Here we tested the phylogeographic pattern of avian haemosporidians in the great tit species complex and settled the role of host-switch, sorting, and co-speciation in shaping the host-parasite associations in this system. ## Description of the data and file structure This dataset includes a **plin.csv** file which consists of 18 variables such as host_region; parasiteGenus; order; family; genus; species; subspecies; Host_Environment; continent: The continent where the data was collected (e.g., "Africa"); country: The country in which the bird was found (e.g., Algeria, Benin, Comoros); latitude and longitude: Geographic coordinates of the location where the data was recorded. Some entries have "NA" (Not Available) when the data is not provided; found: The number of hosts found with the parasite; tested: The number of hosts that were tested for the parasite; 'prev' refers to prevalence. Information of avian haemosporidians lineages infecting the great tit species complex was collected in two ways, partial from wild-caught individuals in China, and the rest from the MalAvi database. We first tested whether the infection patterns were restricted by geographical distributions, and then analysed the transition probability of lineages among different host species. Finally, we tested the hypothesis that lineages detected in the latest dispersed species are more likely to be multi-host parasites Host species, sampling site and prevalence were listed in the csv file and codes in R file. Sequences of all analysed lineages can be found in the txt file. The 'NA's in the data file refers to data not applicable. The column 'subspecies' includes plenty of empty cells, but they do not affect the result as we only need this information for our focal species (Parus major). 'prev' refers to prevalence. ## Sharing/Access information Part of the data was derived from the following sources: * [http://130.235.244.92/Malavi/](http://130.235.244.92/Malavi/)