Shedding light on the embryogenesis and eye development of the troglophile cave spider Tegenaria pagana C. L. Koch, 1840 (Araneae: Agelenidae).

ABSTRACT:

Background

Relatively little is known about the diversity of embryonic development across lineages of spiders, even though the study of embryonic development is a primary step in evo-devo studies and essential for understanding phenotypic evolution. Practically nothing is known about embryogenesis in cave-dwelling spiders, animals which play an important role in cave ecosystems and may have remarkable adaptations to aphotic habitats such as loss of eyes.

Results

Here, we describe embryogenesis and study the expression patterns of several genes of the Retinal Determination Network (RDN) in the troglophile (species that have pre-adaptations to life in caves, and can complete their life cycle in caves, as well as in epigean habitats) eye-bearing funnel-web spider species Tegena

SUBMITTER: Propistsova EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11889846 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature