Car Wheatley, 31, from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, was found guilty of murder at St Albans Crown Court on Wednesday.
Alexa-Marie Quinn had 66 injuries including a bruise from her stomach to her ankles when she died last year.
Wheatley was told he will have to serve a minimum of 21 years in jail before being considered for release.
He had been awarded custody of Alexa-Marie in December 2013 - three months before he killed her.
He admitted manslaughter, but the jury rejected his plea of not guilty to murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
The jury was told Wheatley beat Alexa-Marie with "hard, sustained, persistent hitting" after losing his temper.
The blows were delivered with such force that fat deposits entered her bloodstream, blocking her lungs, and it was described as the culmination of a period of beatings lasting several weeks.
Police found her body on 12 March 2014 and a pathologist said she died from "extreme blunt-force trauma".
The jury was told that psychiatrists diagnosed Wheatley with multiple mental health disorders.
Prosecutor Christopher Donnellan QC said Wheatley dialled 999 on the morning of the fatal attack, but by the time paramedics arrived it was likely Alexa-Marie had been dead for hours.
Det Ch Insp Jerome Kent said: "No child should suffer in this way and it is right that Carl Wheatley, who is a dangerous and violent man, was found guilty of murder and sentenced accordingly."
Adrian Foster, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Without any eyewitnesses, we needed lengthy and highly technical evidence from top medical experts to help provide an explanation as to why this little girl died."
Alexa-Marie had been removed from her mother's care some years earlier and had been living with foster parents in Bedfordshire before moving in with her father.
Hertfordshire County Council said there would be an independent review of all the care agencies involved in looking after Alexa-Marie.
Her mother issued a statement via Hertfordshire Police, in which she was not identified, which said: "Myself and my extended family have been deeply traumatised by what Carl Wheatley has done.
"How anyone could cause such pain and suffering to someone so young and so sweet is truly beyond me.
"She will never have the chance to make daisy chains or go to a school prom and we will never be able to celebrate happy occasions, such as birthdays, Christmas and Mother's Day, because of what this man has done."

Lt Donald Mackintosh, who served with the Seaforth Highlanders, died in the Battle of Arras in 1917.
His actions led to the posthumous award of a Victoria Cross.
Arras was fought from 9 April to 16 May 1917 and marked the beginning of the spring offensive on the Western Front.
An unusually high number of Scottish soldiers took part in the battle and 18,000 of them were killed.
The official citation marking Donald Mackintosh's VC reads:
"For most conspicuous bravery and resolution in the face of intense machine gun fire.
"During the initial advance he was shot through the right leg, but though crippled he continued to lead his men and captured the trench.
"In the captured trench Lt. Mackintosh collected men of another company who had lost their leader, and drove back a counterattack.
"He was again wounded, and although unable to stand, he continued, nevertheless, to control the situation.
"With only fifteen men left, he ordered his party to be ready to advance to the final objective, and with great difficulty got out of the trench and encouraged his men to advance.
"He was again wounded and fell.
"The gallantry and devotion to duty of this officer were beyond all praise."
Lt Mackintosh was just 21 when he was killed.
British artillery had attacked German lines with heavy shells in preparation for the advance at Arras.
But many German machine-gun positions remained intact.
British units, including The Seaforths, suffered massive losses as they attacked.
In many cases, more junior officers like Mackintosh were expected to rally soldiers whose company commanders had already fallen.
By the time the Battle of Arras ended, the Allies had suffered 159,000 casualties, 46,000 of them Scots.
A man who beat his four-year-old daughter to death has been jailed for life.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
A memorial stone has been laid in Glasgow to honour a World War One officer who led a successful advance while so badly wounded he could not stand.