Data and reproducible analysis scripts for Metazoan diversification characterised by elevated rates of evolution during the middle Ediacaran to earliest Cambrian.

<p dir="ltr">This archive contains all input data, analysis files, control files, and plotting scripts required to reproduce the molecular and phenotypic evolutionary rate analyses presented in this study.</p><p dir="ltr">The archive is organized into four main directories:</p><p dir="ltr"><b>00_Morphological_Matrix</b></p><p dir="ltr">This folder contains the morphological character matrix analysed in this study together with its accompanying documentation.</p><p dir="ltr">· <b>00.1_Phenotype_matrix_description.docx</b></p><p dir="ltr">This document describes the construction and modification of the morphological character matrix used in this study.</p><p dir="ltr">· <b>00.2_Phenotype_matrix.xlsx</b></p><p dir="ltr">The complete morphological character matrix analysed in this study, including the full phenotype matrix and functional classifications of characters into the five functional categories.</p><p><br></p><p dir="ltr"><b>01_Molecular_MCMCTree</b></p><p dir="ltr">This folder contains molecular evolutionary rate estimates inferred using <b>MCMCTree</b> under two relaxed-clock models.</p><p dir="ltr">· <b>01A_MCMCTree_GBM: </b>Results generated using the autocorrelated relaxed-clock model.</p><p dir="ltr">· <b>01B_MCMCTree_IGR: </b>Results generated using the independent-rates relaxed-clock model.</p><p dir="ltr">Each model contains analyses performed under three alternative fossil calibration strategies: (1) Carlisle, (2) dos Reis, (3) Budd.

Each calibration directory contains the corresponding MCMCTree outputs used to estimate lineage-specific molecular evolutionary rates.</p><p><br></p><p dir="ltr"><b>02_Phenotype_MrBayes</b></p><p dir="ltr">This folder contains morphological evolutionary rate analyses performed using <b>MrBayes</b>.</p><p dir="ltr">· <b>02A_All_Phenotype_Characters</b></p><p dir="ltr">Morphological evolutionary rates estimated using the complete morphological character matrix.