Ciliophora is one of the most diverse lineages of unicellular eukaryotes. Nevertheless, a robust timescale including all main lineages and employing properly identified ciliate fossils as primary calibrations is lacking. Here, we inferred a time-calibrated multigene phylogeny of Ciliophora evolution, and we used this timetree to investigate the rates and patterns of lineage diversification through time. We implemented a two-step analytical approach that favored both gene and taxon sampling, reducing the uncertainty of time estimates and yielding narrower credibility intervals on the ribosomal-derived chronogram. We estimate the origin of Ciliophora at 1143 Ma, which is substantially younger than previously proposed ages, and the huge diversity explosion occurred during the Paleozoic. Among the current groups recognized as classes, Spirotrichea diverged earlier, its origin was dated at ca. 850 Ma, and Protocruziea was the younger class, with crown age estimated at 56 Ma. Macroevolutionary analysis detected a significant rate shift in diversification dynamics in the spirotrichean clade Hypotrichia + Oligotrichia + Choreotrichia, which had accelerated speciation rate ca. 570 Ma, during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition. For all crown lineages investigated, speciation rates declined through time, whereas extinction rates remained low and relatively constant throughout the evolutionary history of ciliates.
Keywords: BAMM; Ciliates; Diversification rates; Molecular clock; Protists; Speciation.
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