From Gondwana to GAARlandia: Evolutionary history and biogeography of ogre‐faced spiders (Deinopis)

Aim

We explore the evolutionary history of the ogre‐faced spiders (Deinopis) from their Early Cretaceous origins to present day. Specifically, we investigate how vicariance and dispersal have shaped distribution patterns of this lineage. Within the Caribbean, we test the role of GAARlandia, a hypothesized land bridge that connected South America to the Greater Antilles during the Eocene–Oligocene transition (~35–33 Ma), in the biogeography of Deinopis.

Taxon

Araneae: Deinopidae: Deinopis.

Location

Caribbean islands, with additional global exemplars.

Methods

Combining standard Sanger sequence data with an Anchored Hybrid Enrichment (AHE) phylogenomic dataset, we use Bayesian inference to estimate the phylogenetic relationships of Deinopis. “BioGeoBEARS” is used to test the GAARlandia hypothesis, and to pinpoint major dispersal events in the biogeographic history of Deinopis.

Results

The phylogeny supports the nesting of a Caribbean clade withi...