Data from: Range size heritability in Carnivora is driven by geographic constraints

Its existence may indicate selection on traits only emergent at the species level, with interesting consequences for evolutionary processes. We explore whether range size heritability may be attributable to the fact that range size is largely driven by the size of geographic domains (i.e. continents, biomes, areas given by species' climatic tolerance) which tend to be similar in phylogenetically related species.

Using a well resolved phylogeny of carnivorans, we show that range sizes are indeed constrained by geographic domains and that the phylogenetic signal in range sizes diminishes if the domain sizes are accounted for. Moreover, detailed delimitation of species' geographic domain leads to a weaker signal in range size heritability, indicating the importance of definition of the null model against which the pattern is tested.