ORIGINAL ARTICLE doi:10.1111/evo.12578 Why is Madagascar special? The extraordinarily slow evolution of pelican spiders (Araneae, Archaeidae) Hannah M. Wood,1,2 Rosemary G. Gillespie,3 Charles E. Griswold,4 and Peter C. Wainwright1 1Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95616 2E-mail:
[email protected] 3Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720 4Entomology Department, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California 94118 Received May 2, 2014 Accepted November 19, 2014 Although Madagascar is an ancient fragment of Gondwana, the majority of taxa studied thus far appear to have reached the island through dispersal from Cenozoic times. Ancient lineages may have experienced a different history compared to more recent Cenozoic arrivals, as such lineages would have encountered geoclimatic shifts over an extended time period. The motivation for this study was to unravel the signature of diversification in an ancient lineage by comparing an area known for major geoclimatic upheavals (Madagascar) versus other areas where the environment has been relatively stable. Archaeid spiders are an ancient paleoendemic group with unusual predatory behaviors and spectacular trophic morphology that likely have been on Madagascar since its isolation. We examined disparities between Madagascan archaeids and their non-Madagascan relatives regarding timing of divergence, rates of trait evolution, and distribution patterns. Results reveal an increased rate of adaptive trait diversification in Madagascan archaeids. Furthermore, geoclimatic events in Madagascar over long periods of time may have facilitated high species richness due to montane refugia and stability, rainforest refugia, and also ecogeographic shifts, allowing for the accumulation of adaptive traits.