Next-generation museum genomics: phylogenetic relationships among palpimanoid spiders using sequence capture techniques (Araneae: Palpimanoidea)

Historical museum specimens are invaluable for morphological and taxonomic research,
but typically the DNA is degraded making traditional sequencing techniques difficult to
impossible for many specimens. Recent advances in Next-Generation Sequencing, specifically
target capture, makes use of short fragment sizes typical of degraded DNA, opening up the
possibilities for gathering genomic data from museum specimens. This study uses museum
specimens and recent target capture sequencing techniques to sequence both Ultra-Conserved
Elements (UCE) and exonic regions for lineages that span the modern spiders, Araneomorphae,
with a focus on Palpimanoidea. While many previous studies have used target capture techniques
on dried museum specimens (for example, skins, pinned insects), this study includes specimens
that were collected over the last two decades and stored in 70% ethanol at room temperature. Our
findings support the utility of target capture methods for examining deep relatio...