DOI: 10.5061/dryad.c866t1g9f
title: Data from: Phylogenomic inference and demographic model selection suggest peripatric separation of the cryptic steppe ant species Plagiolepis pyrenaica stat. rev.

description: The ant Plagiolepis taurica Santschi, 1920 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) is a
 typical species of the Eurasian steppes, a large grassland-dominated biome
 that stretches continuously from Central Asia to Eastern Europe and is
 represented by disjunct outposts also in Central and Western Europe. The
 extent of this biome has been influenced by the Pleistocene climate, and
 steppes expanded recurrently during cold stages and contracted in warm
 stages. Consequently, stenotopic steppe species such as P. taurica
 repeatedly went through periods of demographic expansion and severe
 isolation. Here, we explore the impact of these dynamics on the genetic
 diversification within P. taurica. Delimitation of P. taurica from other
 Plagiolepis species has been unclear since its initial description, which
 raised questions on both its classification and its spatiotemporal
 diversification early on. We re‐evaluate species limits and explore
 underlying mechanisms driving speciation by using an integrative approach
 based on genomic and morphometric data. We found large intraspecific
 divergence within P. taurica and resolved geographically coherent western
 and eastern genetic groups, which likewise differed morphologically. A
 morphometric survey of type material showed that Plagiolepis from the
 western group were more similar to P. barbara pyrenaica Emery, 1921 than
 to P. taurica; we thus lift the former from synonymy and establish it as
 separate species, P. pyrenaica stat. rev. Explicit evolutionary model
 testing based on genomic data supported a peripatric speciation for the
 species pair, probably as a consequence of steppe contraction and
 isolation during the mid‐Pleistocene. We speculate that this scenario
 could be exemplary for many stenotopic steppe species, given the
 emphasized dynamics of Eurasian steppes.
description: Morphometric measurements are provided in Excel tables and
 geometric morphometry landmarks are provided as tps file.
 The corresponding methods and the character definition are
 provided in the Supplementary Material of the manuscript.
description: # Phylogenomic inference and demographic model selection suggest
 peripatric separation of the cryptic steppe ant species Plagiolepis
 pyrenaica stat. rev.
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c866t1g9f](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c866t1g9f) Data description: Morphometric measurements are provided in Excel tables and geometric morphometry landmarks are provided as tps file. The corresponding methods and the character definition are provided in the Supplementary Material of the manuscript. The file "workers_individuals.xlsx" contains raw data of morphometric measurements from individual workers of Plagiolepis pyrenaica and P. taurica. Abbreviations: HYP=classification by traditional morphometry; nuDNA = classification by RAD sequencing The file "Nest_sample_means_RAV.xlsx" contains per nest sample means of allometrically corrected morphometric data  of workers of Plagiolepis pyrenaica and Pl. taurica. LAT, LON, ALT = geographic latitude, longitude and altitude; HYP=classification by traditional morphometry; P(pyre) and P(taur) posterior probabilities in discrimiantn analysis; nuDNA = classification by  RAD sequencing The file "Geometric_Morphometry_Plagiolepis_Kirschner_et_al.tps" contains raw landmark data. Position of landmarks are shown in Supplementary Material. The nest identifiers and the corresponding species hypotheses are provided in Supplementary Data 1 "TM Details". The letter following the nest identifier indicated the indiviudal speciment measured from the correpsonding nest.