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Journal article
Taxonomy, Phylogeny, and Size Evolution in the Spider Genus Megaraneus Lawrence, 1968 (Araneae: Araneidae)
Insects (Basel, Switzerland), Vol.16(10), 992
2025
PMID: 41148861
Abstract
Among terrestrial animals, spiders exhibit the most striking examples of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) but better understanding of its evolution requires improved taxonomy and phylogeny. Many sexually dimorphic spiders lack adequate description, phylogenetic placement, and natural history observations. In South Africa, we documented the natural history of a poorly known spider, Megaraneus gabonensis (Lucas, 1858), with extreme, female-biased SSD (eSSD, female:male approximately 4:1). Here, we redescribe M. gabonensis, place Megaraneus Lawrence, 1968 phylogenetically for the first time, assess whether the observed eSSD represents an independent evolutionary origin, and test whether the macroevolutionary pattern is better explained by male dwarfism or female gigantism. The recovered phylogenetic placement of Megaraneus in the araneid 'backobourkiines', a clade previously considered as restricted to East Asia and Australasia, extends the range of this clade to the Afrotropics. We find that eSSD was present in the common ancestor of the 'backobourkiines', with further increases in female body length occurring independently in Megaraneus, Backobourkia Framenau, Dup & eacute;rr & eacute;, Blackledge & Vink, 2010, and the currently misplaced Parawixia dehaani (Doleschall, 1859). We conclude that the evolution of eSSD reflects a complex pattern of sex-specific size changes across spider phylogeny, but that in Megaraneus it results from female gigantism.
Details
- Title
- Taxonomy, Phylogeny, and Size Evolution in the Spider Genus Megaraneus Lawrence, 1968 (Araneae: Araneidae)
- Authors/Creators
- Klemen Candek - National Institute of BiologyEva Turk - National Institute of BiologyPedro De Souza Castanheira - Murdoch University, Centre for Biosecurity and One HealthKuang-Ping Yu - Natl Inst Biol, Dept Organisms & Ecosyst Res, Ljubljana 1000, SloveniaMatjaz Gregoric - Slovenian Academy of Sciences and ArtsVolker W. Framenau - Murdoch University, Centre for Biosecurity and One HealthIngi Agnarsson - University of IcelandMatjaz Kuntner - National Institute of Biology
- Publication Details
- Insects (Basel, Switzerland), Vol.16(10), 992
- Publisher
- MDPI
- Number of pages
- 17
- Grant note
- IOS-1656460 / National Science Foundation (USA); National Science Foundation (NSF) 4-EHPVRMK [2021,2022,2023,2024] / Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) P1-0255; P1-0236; Z1-8143; J1-9163; J1-50015; J1-60005 / Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
- Identifiers
- 991005829248807891
- Copyright
- © 2025 by the authors.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Centre for Biosecurity and One Health; Harry Butler Institute
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- Citation topics
- 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
- 3.32 Entomology
- 3.32.1249 Araneae
- Web Of Science research areas
- Entomology
- ESI research areas
- Plant & Animal Science