Mygalomorph spiders: Discrete data matrix of burrow construction behavior and somatic morphology

Mygalomorph spiders (trapdoor spiders and their kin) have long been
associated with high levels of homoplasy, and many convergent features can
be intuitively associated with different behavioral niches. This dataset
includes two discrete behavioral characters and 55 somatic morphological
characters (scored from adult females), for 110 genera of mygalomorph
spiders, along with a complete reference list and exemplar list used when
constructing the dataset. This dataset was used to reconstruct the
evolution of burrowing behavior in the Mygalomorphae, compare the
influence of behavior and evolutionary history on somatic morphology, and
test hypotheses of correlated evolution between specific morphological
features and behavior. The results revealed the simplicity of the
mygalomorph adaptive landscape, with opportunistic, web-building taxa at
one end, and burrowing/nesting taxa with structurally-modified burrow
entrances (e.g., a trapdoor) at the other. Shifts in behavioral niche, in
both directions, are common across the evolutionary history of the
Mygalomorphae, and several major clades include taxa inhabiting both
behavioral extremes. Somatic morphology is heavily influenced by behavior,
with taxa inhabiting the same behavioral niche often more similar
morphologically than more closely-related but behaviorally-divergent taxa.