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The rediscovery of a relict unlocks the first global phylogeny of whip spiders (Amblypygi)

View ORCID ProfileGustavo S. de Miranda, View ORCID ProfileSiddharth S. Kulkarni, Jéssica Tagliatela, View ORCID ProfileCaitlin M. Baker, Alessandro P.L. Giupponi, View ORCID ProfileFacundo M. Labarque, View ORCID ProfileEfrat Gavish-Regev, Michael G. Rix, Leonardo S. Carvalho, Lívia Maria Fusari, Hannah M. Wood, View ORCID ProfilePrashant P. Sharma
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.26.489547
Gustavo S. de Miranda
1Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th and Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 20560, USA
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  • For correspondence: sskulkarni24@wisc.edu
Siddharth S. Kulkarni
2Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
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Jéssica Tagliatela
3Departamento de Ecologia e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, campus São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luís, Km 235, 13565-905, São Paulo, Brazil
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Caitlin M. Baker
2Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
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Alessandro P.L. Giupponi
4Laboratório de Referência Nacional em Vetores das Riquetsioses, LIRN-FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
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Facundo M. Labarque
3Departamento de Ecologia e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, campus São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luís, Km 235, 13565-905, São Paulo, Brazil
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Efrat Gavish-Regev
5National Natural History Collections, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904 Jerusalem, Israel
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Michael G. Rix
6Biodiversity and Geosciences Program, Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, QLD 4101, Australia
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Leonardo S. Carvalho
7Campus Amílcar Ferreira Sobral, Universidade Federal do Piauí, 64808-605, Floriano, PI, Brazil
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Lívia Maria Fusari
8Departamento de Hidrobiologia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, campus São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luís, Km 235, 13565-905, São Paulo, Brazil
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Hannah M. Wood
1Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th and Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 20560, USA
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Prashant P. Sharma
2Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
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Abstract

Asymmetrical rates of cladogenesis and extinction abound in the Tree of Life, resulting in numerous minute clades that are dwarfed by larger sister groups. Such taxa are commonly regarded as phylogenetic relicts or “living fossils” when they exhibit an ancient first appearance in the fossil record and prolonged external morphological stasis, particularly in comparison to their more diversified sister groups. Due to their special status, various phylogenetic relicts tend to be well-studied and prioritized for conservation. A notable exception to this trend is found within Amblypygi (“whip spiders”), a visually striking order of functionally hexapodous arachnids that are notable for their antenniform first walking leg pair (the eponymous “whips”). Paleoamblypygi, the putative sister group to the remaining Amblypygi, is known from Late Carboniferous and Eocene deposits, but is survived by a single living species, Paracharon caecus Hansen, 1921, that was last collected in 1899. Due to the absence of genomic sequence-grade tissue for this vital taxon, there is no global molecular phylogeny for Amblypygi to date, nor a fossil-calibrated estimation of divergences within the group. Here, we report several individuals of a previously unknown species of Paleoamblypygi from a cave site in Colombia. Capitalizing upon this discovery, we generated the first molecular phylogeny of Amblypygi, integrating ultraconserved element sequencing with legacy Sanger datasets and including described extant genera. To quantify the impact of sampling Paleoamblypygi on divergence time estimation, we performed in silico experiments with pruning of Paracharon. We demonstrate that the omission of relicts has a significant impact on the accuracy of node dating approaches that outweighs the impact of excluding ingroup fossils. Our results underscore the imperative for biodiversity discovery efforts in elucidating the phylogenetic relationships of “dark taxa”, and especially phylogenetic relicts in tropical and subtropical habitats.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
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Posted April 27, 2022.
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The rediscovery of a relict unlocks the first global phylogeny of whip spiders (Amblypygi)
Gustavo S. de Miranda, Siddharth S. Kulkarni, Jéssica Tagliatela, Caitlin M. Baker, Alessandro P.L. Giupponi, Facundo M. Labarque, Efrat Gavish-Regev, Michael G. Rix, Leonardo S. Carvalho, Lívia Maria Fusari, Hannah M. Wood, Prashant P. Sharma
bioRxiv 2022.04.26.489547; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.26.489547
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The rediscovery of a relict unlocks the first global phylogeny of whip spiders (Amblypygi)
Gustavo S. de Miranda, Siddharth S. Kulkarni, Jéssica Tagliatela, Caitlin M. Baker, Alessandro P.L. Giupponi, Facundo M. Labarque, Efrat Gavish-Regev, Michael G. Rix, Leonardo S. Carvalho, Lívia Maria Fusari, Hannah M. Wood, Prashant P. Sharma
bioRxiv 2022.04.26.489547; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.26.489547

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