Evolution and Biogeographic diversification processes of Neotropical tarantulas (Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae: Theraphosinae)

• Grant number: 24/06108-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2024
• Effective date (End): May 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Domingos Brescovit
• Grantee: Arthur Galleti Lima
• Host Institution: Instituto Butantan. Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/12588-1 - Expansion, qualification and modernization of the zoological collections of the Instituto Butantan with emphasis on taxonomy and systematic in neotropic haplogynae spiders (Arachnida, Araneae), AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

Tarantulas of the subfamily Theraphosinae are the most diversified group within Mygalomorphae, a lineage that also includes sheet-web spiders and trapdoor spiders. Theraphosinae are endemic to the New World and constitute a group of large spiders with abdominal bristles used for defense. The morphology of these bristles, as in other traditional characters, have been used to infer phylogenies, resulting in the division of several genera into different groups. One of these groups, composed by genera with type III and IV stinging bristles, is distributed along the Americas, and its evolutionary history has presented different hypothesis, depending on the type of data employed. Using Ultraconserved Elements (UCEs) phylogenomics, this project aims to test the monophyly of Therophosinae, and also to assess the evolution of its morphological characters, to investigate the diversification patterns of its lineages, and to reconstruct ancestral areas of these spiders. Samples for phylogenomic analysis will be accessed by data collection and partnerships with laboratories in South America and Mexico. In the event of the absence of preserved tissues from a taxon, or if new specimens cannot be collected, museum samples could be sequenced. This study will provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution, diversification, and biogeography of these tarantulas, using innovative methods, and useful as a model for biogeographic and evolutionary studies involving other groups of organisms with homogeneous morphology and discordant evolutionary topologies. Because these spiders do not have a high dispersal capacity, this work will draw attention to the conservation of the biomes in which some of these lineages live, such as the Atlantic Forest and the Brazilian Amazon. (AU)