Evolutionary history of the South Atlantic coast's endemic tarantula genus Tekoapora: accessing deep biogeographical events

• Grant number: 25/12124-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: October 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: José Paulo Leite Guadanucci
• Grantee: Maria Tereza Colpani Sartori
• Supervisor: Chris Hamilton
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Idaho, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/16846-8 - Investigating the morphological and molecular limits of the endemic Serra do Mar spider Tekoapora wacketi (Mello-Leitão, 1923), BP.MS

Abstract

Geographic barriers play a fundamental role in allopatric speciation through reproductive isolation, which eventually cause an interruption in gene flow and lead taxa to accumulate both genetic and phenotypic differences. Mountain ranges are major continental topographic barriers to organismal dispersal and consequently gene flow. In the Atlantic rainforest, the Serra do Mar mountain range represents the most prominent orogenic feature of the Atlantic border of South America. Terrestrial invertebrates constitute an abundant and diverse animal group, considered an excellent model for studying the implications of deep and recent geological history on diversification patterns. The tarantula spider Tekoapora wacketi (Mello-Leitão, 1923) is abundant on the Atlantic Forest coast. The distribution of this monotypic genus is quite remarkable, as it occurs entirely in the eastern part of the Serra do Mar, including continental islands. In this proposal, we intend to explore the origin and diversification of this coastal tarantula genus, Tekoapora. Through a phylogenetic analysis of sub genomic scale data, we will test the hypothesis that the tectonic reactivation during the Neogene that caused the uplift of the Serra do Mar and the sedimentation of adjacent basins was the main driver of the lineage splitting that originated the genus Tekoapora.