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Abstract The present contribution addresses the phylogeny and biogeography of the pantropical whip spider family Charinidae Quintero, 1986, the most species-rich in the arachnid order Amblypygi Thorell, 1883, based on morphology and multilocus DNA sequences, analysed simultaneously using parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. The morphological matrix comprises 138 characters, scored for four outgroup taxa and 103 ingroup terminals representing all genera and 64% of the species of Charinidae. The multilocus dataset comprises sequences from two nuclear and three mitochondrial gene loci for four outgroup taxa and 48 ingroup representing 30 (23%) taxa of Charinidae. Charinidae are monophyletic, with Weygoldtia Miranda et al., 2018 sister to a monophyletic group comprising Charinus Simon, 1892 and Sarax Simon, 1892, neither of which are reciprocally monophyletic. Charinidae diverged from other amblypygid families in the Late Carboniferous, c. 318 Mya, on the supercontinent Pangaea. Weygoldtia diverged from the common ancestor of Charinus and Sarax during the Late Permian, c. 257 Mya, when changes in climate reduced tropical forests. The divergence of Charinus and Sarax coincides with the fragmentation of Pangaea, c. 216 Mya. Sarax colonized South-East Asia via Australia. The charinid fauna of New Caledonia originated before the Oligocene, when the island separated from Australia, c. 80 Mya.
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Phylogenetic Systematics of the Millipede Family Xystodesmidae
Abstract The millipede family Xystodesmidae includes 486 species distributed primarily in temperate deciduous forests in North America and East Asia. Species diversity of the family is greatest in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, with 188 species. Although the group includes notable taxa such as those that are bioluminescent and others that display Müllerian mimicry, producing up to 600 mg of cyanide, basic alpha-taxonomy of the group is woefully incomplete and more than 50 species remain undescribed in the Appalachian Mountains alone. In order to establish a robust phylogenetic foundation for addressing compelling evolutionary questions and describing species diversity, we assembled the largest species phylogeny (in terms of species sampling) to date in the Diplopoda. We sampled 49 genera (out of 57) and 247 of the species in the family Xystodesmidae, recollecting fresh material from historical type localities and discovering new species in unexplored regions. Here, we present a phylogeny of the family using six genes (four mitochondrial and two nuclear) and include pivotal taxa omitted from previous studies including Nannaria, Erdelyia, taxa from East Asia, and 10 new species. We show that 6 of the 11 tribes are monophyletic, and that the family is paraphyletic with respect to the Euryuridae and Eurymerodesmidae. Prior supraspecific classification is in part inconsistent with the phylogeny and convergent evolution has caused artificial genera to be proposed. Subspecific classification is likewise incongruent with phylogeny and subspecies are consistently not sister to conspecifics. The phylogeny is used as a basis to update the classification of the family, diagnose monophyletic groups, and to inform species hypotheses.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1655635
- PAR ID:
- 10227211
- Editor(s):
- Mikó, István
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Insect Systematics and Diversity
- Volume:
- 5
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2399-3421
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixab003
