New species in old mountains: integrative taxonomy reveals ten new species and extensive short-range endemism in Nesticus spiders (Araneae, Nesticidae) from the southern Appalachian Mountains.

ABSTRACT: This revision is based on sampling efforts over the past three decades in the southern Appalachian Mountains which have provided Nesticus (Araneae, Nesticidae) collections of approximately 2100 adult specimens from more than 475 unique collecting events. Using a "morphology first" framework we examined recently collected specimens plus museum material to formulate morphology-based species hypotheses for putative new taxa (discovery phase). Using sequence capture of nuclear ultraconserved elements (UCEs) we analyzed 801 nuclear loci to validate new (and prior) morphology-based species hypotheses (validation phase) and reconstructed a robust backbone phylogeny including all described and new species. Sanger sequencing and UCE-bycatch were also used to gather mitochondrial data for mor

SUBMITTER: Hedin M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10208238 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature