Data from: Correlated evolution of multiple traits gives butterflies a false head
Data files
May 20, 2025 version files 746.58 KB
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2025May12_CorrelatedEvoFalseHead_Yumnam.R
58.24 KB
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21Jan2025_30June23_SubfamAdded_RelTime_DivergenceTime_928sp.nwk
41.40 KB
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21Jan2025_FalseHead_Data_Analyses.xlsx
45.28 KB
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6Feb2025_allFHdata_pruned_Espeland_Magallon_calibration.csv
9.40 KB
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6Feb2025_pruned_Espeland_Magallon_calibration.nex
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928sp_sequences.xlsx
553.21 KB
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FHData_Wingspan_FalseHead.csv
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README.md
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Abstract
Many butterflies possess a combination of characters at the posterior hindwing end, superficially resembling their head. This ‘false head’ has been hypothesised to deflect predator attacks towards the false head area. A clear understanding of the diversity and evolution of false head traits across butterflies is lacking. Here, we tested whether false head traits evolved from simple to complex in order to achieve a greater resemblance to a head. We also tested if false head traits formed an adaptive constellation and, thus, evolved in correlation. Using a phylogenetic framework with 927 lycaenid species, our results illustrate evolutionary patterns of five false traits - (i) false antennae, (ii) spot, (iii) conspicuous colouration in the false head area, (iv) false head contour in the false head area, and (v) convergent lines. We found that false traits (i)–(iv) evolved in a correlated fashion across the phylogeny, likely driven by a common selective pressure. Our findings support the idea that false head functions as an adaptive constellation for predator attack deflection.
R codes and datasets used to model the evolution of false head traits in butterflies
Sequence Data
Filename: 928sp_sequences.xlsx
Description: This file contains all the gene sequences with sequence ID for all the species used to reconstruct the constrained Lycaenidae phylogeny. This datafile contains the downloaded sequences of 9 genes from NCBI; "NA" represents sequences not available on NCBI. The column with the header "Name" is the list of species. For each gene, there are three columns with headers "XXseqID", "XXsequencelength" and "XXsequence" for gene sequence ID, length of the sequence and the nucleotide sequence respectively, where XX represents the gene.
Phylogenies
Filename: 21Jan2025_30June23_SubfamAdded_RelTime_DivergenceTime_928sp.nwk
Description: This file is the time-calibrated phylogeny of the 928 species.
This phylogeny and the pruned ones derived from this were used for our main analyses
Filename: 6Feb2025_pruned_Espeland_Magallon_calibration.nex
Description: This file is the time-calibrated phylogeny pruned from the phylogeny by Espeland et al (2018).
We used this phylogeny for our analyses on the correlated evolutionary pattern at a broader level, representing 98% of all butterfly subtribes.
Results from these analyses are reported in the supplementary file.
False head traits Data for Lycaenidae tree (main analyses)
Filename: 21Jan2025_FalseHead_Data_Analyses.csv
Description:
This file contains the raw data used in the analysis. Each false head trait is coded as a binary trait with
0 for absence and 1 for presence; "NA" represents unknown status. The name of the false head trait is also the header for the corresponding column. The header "taxa" represents species included in our study and the column with header "subfamily" contains the first three initials of the species subfamily.
Data for wingspan analysis
Filename: FHData_Wingspan_FalseHead.csv
Description:
This file contains the data used in the analysis for wingspan effect on the number of false head traits. Each false head trait is coded as a binary trait with 0 for absence and 1 for presence. The name of the false head trait is also the header for the corresponding column. The header "treetaxa" represents species included in this analysis. The wingspan in centimeters for each species are given in the column under the header"mean_WS". The total number of false head traits possessed by each species is given in the column under the header "Fhnumber".
False head traits Data for Espeland tree (reported in supplementary file)
Filename: 6Feb2025_allFHdata_pruned_Espeland_Magallon_calibration.csv
Description:
This file contains the false head traits data for analysing correlated patterns at a broader scale using 6Feb2025_pruned_Espeland_Magallon_calibration.nex. The header descriptions are self-explanatory and similar to main analyses data.
R script for all the analyses
Filename: 2025May12_CorrelatedEvoFalseHead.R
Description:
This file is the R script used for all our phylogenetic analyses.
All the analyses were done section by section following the order reported in our main text.
Access information
Other publicly accessible location of the data: N/A.
Data was derived from the following sources: N/A.
Contact
For any questions or further information, please contact:
Name: Yumnam, Tarunkishwor
Email: (mailto: tarunyumnam18@iisertvm.ac.in)
Institution: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram