Evidence of positive selection on six spider developmental genes.

Spiders constitute more than 49,000 described species distributed all over the world, and all ecological environments. Their order, Araneae, is defined by a set of characteristics with no parallel among their arachnid counterparts (e.g.

The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project.

The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.

A revision of the Neotropical genus Austrohahnia Mello-Leitão (Araneae, Hahniidae).

The Neotropical genus Austrohahnia Mello-Leitão, 1942 is revised, comprising four species from Argentina. The genus is here transferred to the subfamily Hahniinae Bertkau, 1878 from Cybaeolinae Lehtinen, 1967. Austrohahnia is diagnosed by a single synapomorphy, short setae ventrally on the abdomen, in immature as well as adult stages.

A new Amazonian species of Cryptocellus (Arachnida, Ricinulei), with descriptions of its integumental structures and all free-living life stages.

A new species of Cryptocellus Westwood, 1874 is described, based on males, females and all free-living immature stages. Cryptocellus muiraquitan sp. nov.

The cost-effectiveness of biodiversity surveys in tropical forests.

The identification of high-performance indicator taxa that combine practical feasibility and ecological value requires an understanding of the costs and benefits of surveying different taxa. We present a generic and novel framework for identifying such taxa, and illustrate our approach using a large-scale assessment of 14 different higher taxa across three forest types in the Brazilian Amazon, estimating both the standardized survey cost and the ecological and biodiversity indicator value for each taxon. Survey costs varied by three orders of magnitude, and dung beetles and birds were identified as especially suitable for evaluating and monitoring the ecological consequences of habitat change in our study region.