Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Aphonopelma: An exploration of species boundaries in turret-building tarantulas of th

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Aphonopelma: An exploration of species boundaries in turret-building tarantulas of th

    • Hendrixson, Brent E. et al. (2012): An exploration of species boundaries in turret-building tarantulas of the
      Mojave Desert (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Theraphosidae, Aphonopelma). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 66 (2013) 327–340.

      Abstract:
      Tarantulas in the North American genus Aphonopelma are poorly known due to their challenging patterns
      of morphological variation and questionable taxonomy; few specimens can be confidently identified
      using existing keys or comparisons to original descriptions. In an effort to identify new strategies for
      resolving what has been characterized as a ‘‘taxonomic and nomenclatural nightmare’’, we employed five
      different approaches for delimiting species in a group of closely related tarantulas from the Mojave Desert
      in the southwestern United States. These methods included the application of single techniques (morphology,
      DNA barcoding, shared genealogical exclusivity among independent loci, and generalized mixed
      Yule coalescent) and an integrative approach that incorporates genealogical and ecological information.
      Results demonstrate that the taxonomy of these spiders as presently defined underestimates actual species-
      level diversity and the group is in need of revision. The number of species delimited by each
      approach, however, was variable and we argue that it is this discordance that emphasizes the importance
      of incorporating multiple lines of evidence into an integrative taxonomic framework that can be used for
      constructing robust taxonomic hypotheses for Aphonopelma species.
    »ARACHNE« – The Journal of the German Arachnology Society
Working...
X