Diversification of the mygalomorph spider genus Aname (Araneae: Anamidae) across the Australian arid zone: Tracing the evolution and biogeography of a continent-wide radiation

Correlation with a limited set of behavioral niches explains the convergence of somatic morphology in mygalomorph spiders

“…This regulatory function may be further increased by modifications that allow the burrow entrance to be closed, for example, a trapdoor, which may explain why, in families containing both trapdoor‐builders and species that utilize a more open entrance type, the trapdoor‐builders are often those that have spread into arid environments (e.g., in the Australian Idiopidae, Rix, Cooper, et al, 2017 ; Rix, Raven, et al, 2017 ), and the North American Euctenizid genera Apomastus and Aptostichus (Bond, 2004 , 2012 ). However, there are also burrowing species with an open entrance that have adapted and radiated in arid environments (e.g., the theraphosid genus Aphonopelma , Hamilton et al, 2011 , and the anamid genus Aname , Rix et al, 2021 ), and direct experiments on a trapdoor‐building lycosid found that the trapdoor provides negligible difference to conditions at the bottom of the burrow, indicating that it may primarily serve other functions such as predator defense or flood avoidance (Steves et al, 2021 ).…”

The Evolution of the Australian Amitermes group

“…The other crown group, AG2, apparently evolved at the interface of the arid zone and the monsoonal tropics, followed by divergence and diversification of lineages into tropical and mesic environments, as well as some movements back into the arid zone. Similar diversification patterns have been observed in the trapdoor spider genera Aname(Rix et al 2021) and Conothele(Huey et al…”

“…This thesis joins the rank of other continent-wide phylogenetic studies which show that Australia's aridification resulted in complex distributional and diversification patterns, e.g. in plants , Dale et al 2020, Renner et al 2020, animals , Ashman et al 2018, Roycroft et al 2020, Rix et al 2021, and fungi (Sheedy et al 2016). The AAG diversified through periods of severe climate and environmental change, which helps to predict the potential distribution and diversification of termites in the face of current global climate change.…”

“…Late Cenozoic climate change has shaped diversity patterns of Australian biota , Couzens and Prideaux 2018, Thornhill et al 2019, Renner et al 2020, including invertebrates (Braby and Pierce 2006, Kayaalp et al 2013, Toussaint et al 2015, Rix et al 2021. However, diversification dynamics in Australian termites have remained virtually unexplored (but see Lee et al 2017) despite their ubiquity and key ecological roles , Clement et al 2021.…”

Correlation with a limited set of behavioral niches explains the convergence of somatic morphology in mygalomorph spiders

“…This regulatory function may be further increased by modifications that allow the burrow entrance to be closed, for example a trapdoor, which may explain why, in families containing both trapdoor-builders and species that utilize a more open entrance type, the trapdoor-builders are often those that have spread into arid environments (e.g., in the Australian Idiopidae, the North American Antrodiaetidae, Coyle, 1986). Although, there are also burrowing species with an open entrance that have adapted and radiated in arid environments (e.g., the theraphosid genus Aphonopelma , Hamilton et al, 2011, and the anamid genus Aname , Rix et al, 2021), and direct experiments on a trapdoor-building lycosid found that the trapdoor provides negligible difference to conditions at the bottom of the burrow, indicating that it may primarily serve other functions such as predator defense or flood avoidance (Steves et al, 2021).…”