The first phylogenetic analysis of Palpigradi (Arachnida) – the most enigmatic arthropod order

Giribet, Gonzalo; McIntyre, Erin; Christian, Erhard; Espinasa, Luis; Ferreira, Rodrigo Lopes; Francke, Óscar F.; Harvey, Mark S.; Isaia, Marco; Kováč, Ĺubomír; McCutchen, Lynn; Souza, Maysa Fernanda Villela Rezende; Zagmajster, Maja

doi:10.1071/is13057

Cited by 32 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Furthermore, there is a general paucity of information on the phylogenetic relationships within smaller arachnid orders. For example, just one molecular phylogenetic study of Palpigradi has been published to date ( Giribet et al, 2014 ). In Amblypygi, limited morphological phylogenies have been published ( Weygoldt, 1996 , Garwood et al, 2017 ) and no molecular phylogenetic study of the order as a whole has ever been conducted.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual dimorphism in the Arachnid orders

McLean

Garwood

Brassey

2018

PeerJ

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Sexual differences in size and shape are common across the animal kingdom. The study of sexual dimorphism (SD) can provide insight into the sexual- and natural-selection pressures experienced by males and females in different species. Arachnids are diverse, comprising over 100,000 species, and exhibit some of the more extreme forms of SD in the animal kingdom, with the males and females of some species differing dramatically in body shape and/or size. Despite this, research on arachnid SD has primarily focused on specific clades as opposed to observing traits across arachnid orders, the smallest of which have received comparatively little attention. This review provides an overview of the research to date on the trends and potential evolutionary drivers for SD and sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in individual arachnid orders, and across arachnids as a whole. The most common trends across Arachnida are female-biased SSD in total body size, male-biased SSD in relative leg length and SD in pedipalp length and shape. However, the evolution of sexually dimorphic traits within the group is difficult to elucidate due to uncertainty in arachnid phylogenetic relationships. Based on the dataset we have gathered here, we highlight gaps in our current understanding and suggest areas for future research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual dimorphism in the Arachnid orders

McLean

Garwood

Brassey

2018

PeerJ

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“…Direct optimization analyses were conducted under the parsimony criterion in POY v.5.1.1 (Wheeler et al ., ) under a selection of six parameter sets, as in earlier studies (e.g. Giribet et al ., ). For the individual partitions, timed searches of 1 h were run on six processors.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

A molecular phylogeny of the temperate Gondwanan family Pettalidae (Arachnida, Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi) and the limits of taxonomic sampling

et al. 2016

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We evaluate the phylogenetic and biogeographical relationships of the members of the family Pettalidae (Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi), a textbook example of an ancient temperate Gondwanan taxon, by means of DNA sequence data from four markers. Taxon sampling is optimized to cover more than 70% of the described species in the family, with 117 ingroup specimens included in the analyses. The data were submitted to diverse analytical treatments, including static and dynamic homology, untrimmed and trimmed alignments, and a variety of optimality criteria including parsimony and maximum-likelihood (traditional search and Bayesian). All analyses found strong support for the monophyly of the family Pettalidae and of all its genera, with the exception of Speleosiro, which is nested within Purcellia. However, the relationships among genera are poorly resolved, with the exceptions of a first split between the South African genus Parapurcellia and the remaining species, and, less supported, a possible relationship between Chileogovea and the other South African genus Purcellia. The diversification of most genera is Mesozoic, and of the three New Zealand genera, two show evidence of constant diversification through time, contradicting scenarios of total submersion of New Zealand during the Oligocene drowning episode. The genera Karripurcellia from Western Australia and Neopurcellia from the Australian plate of New Zealand show a pattern typical of relicts, with ancient origin, depauperate extant diversity and recent diversification. The following taxonomic actions are taken: Milipurcellia Karaman, 2012 is synonymized with Karripurcellia Giribet, 2003 syn. nov.; Speleosiro Lawrence, 1931 is synonymised with Purcellia Hansen & Sørensen, 1904 syn. nov. The following new combinations are proposed: Parapurcellia transvaalica (Lawrence, 1963) comb. nov.; Purcellia argasiformis (Lawrence, 1931) comb. nov.

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“…Palpigrades are a poorly-known and obscure arachnid order (Harvey et al 2006). They are regarded as the most enigmatic arachnids and as one of the rarest and smallest groups among all terrestrial arthropods (Giribet et al 2014). First reported by Grassi & Calandruccio (1885) in the late 19 th century, no photos of living specimens were published before the beginning of the 21 st century (Kováč et al 2002) and their extraordinary feeding habit was revealed even later (Smrž et al 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%