Species delimitation and phylogeography of Aphonopelma hentzi (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Theraphosidae): cryptic diversity in North American tarantulas.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The primary objective of this study is to reconstruct the phylogeny of the hentzi species group and sister species in the North American tarantula genus, Aphonopelma, using a set of mitochondrial DNA markers that include the animal "barcoding gene". An mtDNA genealogy is used to consider questions regarding species boundary delimitation and to evaluate timing of divergence to infer historical biogeographic events that played a role in shaping the present-day diversity and distribution. We aimed to identify potential refugial locations, directionality of range expansion, and test whether A. hentzi post-glacial expansion fit a predicted time frame.

Methods and findings

A Bayesian phylogenetic approach was used to analyze a 2051 base pair (bp) mtDNA data matrix compr

SUBMITTER: Hamilton CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3192178 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature