Unnoticed in the tropics: phylogenomic resolution of the poorly known arachnid order Ricinulei (Arachnida).

ABSTRACT: Ricinulei are among the most obscure and cryptic arachnid orders, constituting a micro-diverse group with extreme endemism. The 76 extant species described to date are grouped in three genera: Ricinoides, from tropical Western and Central Africa, and the two Neotropical genera Cryptocellus and Pseudocellus. Until now, a single molecular phylogeny of Ricinulei has been published, recovering the African Ricinoides as the sister group of the American Pseudocellus and providing evidence for the diversification of the order pre-dating the fragmentation of Gondwana. Here, we present, to our knowledge, the first phylogenomic study of this neglected arachnid order based on data from five transcriptomes obtained from the five major mitochondrial lineages of Ricinulei. Our results, based on up to mo

SUBMITTER: Fernandez R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4632547 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature