The biogeography of the yeti crabs (Kiwaidae) with notes on the phylogeny of the Chirostyloidea (Decapoda: Anomura).

ABSTRACT: The phylogeny of the superfamily Chirostyloidea (Decapoda: Anomura) has been poorly understood owing to limited taxon sampling and discordance between different genes. We present a nine-gene dataset across 15 chirostyloids, including all known yeti crabs (Kiwaidae), to improve the resolution of phylogenetic affinities within and between the different families, and to date key divergences using fossil calibrations. This study supports the monophyly of Chirostyloidea and, within this, a basal split between Eumunididae and a Kiwaidae-Chirostylidae clade. All three families originated in the Mid-Cretaceous, but extant kiwaids and most chirostylids radiated from the Eocene onwards. Within Kiwaidae, the basal split between the seep-endemic Kiwa puravida and a vent clade comprising Kiwa hirsuta a

SUBMITTER: Roterman CN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3712414 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature