Disconnecting trapdoors: Phylogenomic analyses reveal evolutionary contrasts in trapdoor spiders with intercontinental distribution (Idiopidae, Idiopinae).

Among Mygalomorphae spiders, the family Idiopidae is the second most diverse, consisting exclusively of trapdoor spiders and is divided into three subfamilies: Arbanitinae, Genysinae, and Idiopinae. The subfamily Idiopinae, distinguished mainly by anterior lateral eyes that project forward, includes 153 species across seven genera, distributed throughout South America, Africa, and parts of Asia. Within this subfamily, the genus Idiops includes the greatest diversity and is the only genus recorded in both the New and Old Worlds.

Phylogeographic and genetic insights into Sinonychia martensi: an endemic cave-dwelling harvestman in Beijing.

Caves are one of the most exciting environments on earth, often considered an evolutionary laboratory due to the suite of convergent adaptive traits (troglomorphisms) of organisms inhabiting them. Sinonychia martensi Zhang & Derkarabetian, 2021, is the first and only Travunioidea species recorded in China and is endemic to Beijing, being known from multiple caves. However, nothing is known regarding its phylogeographic or evolutionary history.

Systematic revision of the South American "" (Opiliones, Laniatores, Triaenonychidae).

The genus has long been the most speciose within the Opiliones family Triaenonychidae, comprising 63 species and subspecies distributed across New Zealand and South America. Recent molecular studies utilizing Sanger sequencing and ultraconserved elements (UCEs) have indicated that this genus is not monophyletic, and true are actually confined to New Zealand. Here, the morphology of all South American triaenonychids is re-examined and DNA sequence data compiled from three markers (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit I) for a large number of triaenonychid species, including specimens from all areas with species currently and formerly classified in to reassess their phylogenetic position.

Infrequent Long-Range Dispersal and Evolution of a Top Terrestrial Arthropod Predator in the Sub-Antarctic.

AbstractThe sub-Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems survive on isolated oceanic islands in the path of circumpolar currents and winds that have raged for more than 30 million years and are shaped by climatic cycles that surpass the tolerance limits of many species. Surprisingly little is known about how these ecosystems assembled their native terrestrial fauna and how such processes have changed over time. Here, we demonstrate the patterns and timing of colonization and speciation in the largest and dominant arthropod predators in the eastern sub-Antarctic: spiders of the genus .

Reassessing the phylogeny of Cyphophthalmi with phylogenomics: A UCE-based phylogeny of mite harvesters (Opiliones).

Cyphophthalmi (the mite harvesters) are a group of Opiliones with broad interest due to their species being classic examples of short-range endemics and displaying model biogeographical patterns for poor dispersers. Cyphophthalmi phylogeny has received attention using morphology, Sanger-based sequencing data, or transcriptomics. Here we turn to a new type of data, ultraconserved elements (UCEs) and provide a first phylogeny for the entire suborder Cyphophthalmi using such data and including representatives from 36 of the 46 currently recognized genera.