Chłond Dominik, Sawka-Gądek Natalia, Żyła Dagmara
Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, Department of Zoology, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
Institute of Systematic and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Science, Kraków, Poland.
PeerJ. 2019 Apr 10;7:e6640. doi: 10.7717/peerj.6640. eCollection 2019.
Among the 30 known genera within subfamily Peiratinae, only the genus has a cosmopolitan distribution. The results of our studies are the first comprehensive analysis concerning one of the representatives of mentioned subfamily based on joint phylogenetic analyses of molecular and morphological data as well as molecular dating. A total of 32 species were included into the dataset with all known species of the genus . Material of over 400 dry specimens was examined for the morphological part of this study. The cosmopolitan distribution of and the inaccessibility of specimens preserved in alcohol required the extraction of DNA from the dried skeletal muscles of specimens deposited in 24 entomological collections. The oldest specimens used for the successful extraction and sequencing were collected more than 120 years ago in India. We performed Bayesian Inference analyses of molecular and morphological data separately, as well as combined analysis. The molecular and morphological data obtained during our research verify the correlation of the divergence dates of all known species. Results of the relaxed molecular clock analysis of the molecular data show that, the genus started diverging in the Late Cretaceous into two clades, which subsequently began to branch off in the Paleocene. Our results of phylogenetic analyses suggest that the and its development could be one of the most important morphological characters in the evolution of the genus, most likely associated with the ecological niche inhabited by representatives. Confirmation of the results obtained in our studies is the reconciliation of the evolutionary history of with the biogeographical processes that have shaped current global distribution of the genus.
在盗蛛亚科已知的30个属中，只有该属具有全球分布。我们的研究结果是基于分子和形态数据的联合系统发育分析以及分子定年，对上述亚科的一个代表属进行的首次全面分析。数据集共纳入了该属的32个已知物种。本研究的形态学部分检查了400多个干燥标本的材料。该属的全球分布以及保存在酒精中的标本难以获取，这就需要从存放在24个昆虫学收藏机构的标本的干燥骨骼肌中提取DNA。用于成功提取和测序的最古老标本是120多年前在印度采集的。我们分别对分子和形态数据进行了贝叶斯推断分析，以及联合分析。我们研究过程中获得的分子和形态数据验证了所有已知该属物种分歧日期的相关性。分子数据的宽松分子钟分析结果表明，该属在晚白垩世开始分化为两个分支，随后在古新世开始分支。我们的系统发育分析结果表明，该特征及其发育可能是该属进化过程中最重要的形态特征之一，很可能与该属代表物种所占据的生态位有关。对我们研究结果的证实是该属的进化历史与塑造该属当前全球分布的生物地理过程的协调一致。
