Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 49 (2008) 538–553
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Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 49 (2008) 538–553 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ympev Phylogenetic relationships of Loxosceles and Sicarius spiders are consistent with Western Gondwanan vicariance Greta J. Binford a,*, Melissa S. Callahan a,1, Melissa R. Bodner a,2, Melody R. Rynerson a,3, Pablo Berea Núñez b, Christopher E. Ellison a,4, Rebecca P. Duncan a a Department of Biology, Lewis & Clark College, 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road, Portland, OR 97219, USA b Octolab, Veracruz 91160, Mexico article info abstract Article history: The modern geographic distribution of the spider family Sicariidae is consistent with an evolutionary ori- Received 17 March 2008 gin on Western Gondwana. Both sicariid genera, Loxosceles and Sicarius are diverse in Africa and South/ Revised 1 August 2008 Central America. Loxosceles are also diverse in North America and the West Indies, and have species Accepted 2 August 2008 described from Mediterranean Europe and China. We tested vicariance hypotheses using molecular phy- Available online 9 August 2008 logenetics and molecular dating analyses of 28S, COI, 16S, and NADHI sequences. We recover reciprocal monophyly of African and South American Sicarius, paraphyletic Southern African Loxosceles and mono- Keywords: phyletic New World Loxosceles within which an Old World species group that includes L. rufescens is Biogeography derived. These patterns are consistent with a sicariid common ancestor on Western Gondwana. North Spider Loxosceles American Loxosceles are monophyletic, sister to Caribbean taxa, and resolved in a larger clade with South Sicarius American Loxosceles. With fossil data this pattern is consistent with colonization of North America via a Vicariance land bridge predating the modern Isthmus of Panama. Venom Ó 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction extended by recent human-transport and L. rufescens is nearly cosmopolitan, however, L.rufescens is considered native to the Phylogenetic studies provide the framework necessary to deter- Mediterranean (Gertsch, 1967; Brignoli, 1969; Brignoli, 1976) mine historical species distributions and to reconstruct patterns of and L. laeta native to South America (Gertsch, 1967). Two species change in their phenotypic characters. Here, we present a global- have been described from China (Wang, 1994), one resembles scale phylogenetic analysis of spiders in the family Sicariidae L. rufescens, and the other L. laeta. (Keyserling, 1880), providing new insights into large-scale biogeo- Loxosceles are notorious for the ability of their venoms to cause graphical patterns and a framework for analyses of venom diver- dermonecrotic lesions in mammalian tissues, an effect termed sity in this medically important lineage. Loxoscelism that has been documented across the geographic dis- The family Sicariidae includes the genus Loxosceles (brown or tribution of the genus (Newlands and Atkinson, 1990; Binford and violin spiders) (Heineken and Lowe, 1832) and its sister genus, Wells, 2003; da Silva et al., 2004; Vetter, 2008). Sicarius are com- Sicarius (Walckenaer, 1847)(Platnick et al., 1991). There are monly called six-eyed sand spiders in reference to their habit of 100 described species of Loxosceles the majority of which are in burying themselves under sand and the ability of their bodies to the Americas, West Indies, and Africa (Gertsch, 1967; Gertsch adhere fine sand particles (Duncan et al., 2007). Although less is and Ennik, 1983; Newlands and Atkinson, 1988). The 23 described known about the effects of Sicarius bites, venoms of some species species of Sicarius are currently found in Southern Africa, and Cen- cause serious dermonecrotic lesions (Newlands and Atkinson, tral and South America (Gerschman and Schiapelli, 1979)(Fig. 1). 1990; Van Aswegen et al., 1997; but see Alegre et al., 1977). The ranges of two species L. laeta and L. rufescens have been Sicariid taxonomy, particularly that of New World Loxosceles, has historically benefited from relatively careful attention due to * Corresponding author. Fax: +1 503 768 7658. the toxic potential of their venom. Systematic revisions of Loxosce- E-mail address: [email protected] (G.J. Binford). les have been conducted for North American (Gertsch and Ennik, 1 Present address: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Dartmouth College, USA. 1983) and South American taxa (Gertsch, 1958; Bücherl, 1961, 2 Present address: Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Canada 1964; Gertsch, 1967; commentary in Brignoli, 1976). These works V6T 1Z4. recognized a single species group in North America and the West 3 Present address: Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, USA. 4 Present address: Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Indies (Gertsch and Ennik, 1983) and four species groups in South California, Berkeley, USA. America (Gertsch, 1967). Sicarius and African Loxosceles have not 1055-7903/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.08.003 G.J. Binford et al. / Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 49 (2008) 538–553 539 Fig. 1. Native geographic distribution of Loxosceles and Sicarius. Defined species groups of Loxosceles are indicated separately with species numbers included in parentheses. undergone unified systematic revision (see Newlands, 1975; frequently find series of molted exoskeletons of increasing size Brignoli, 1976; Gerschman and Schiapelli, 1979 for more recent re- next to single mature Loxosceles or Sicarius in natural retreats, sug- gional attention to species groups). Current species counts and spe- gesting that individuals remain in the same locations for most, if cies groups are summarized in Fig. 1. On all continents to which not all, of their lives. We have also seen individuals outside of re- these species are native, researchers continue to discover unde- treats and wandering at night. With this type of dispersal biology, scribed species (particularly for Loxosceles, e.g. Martins et al., 2002). natural range expansions likely occur slowly and over short Despite systematic attention within Loxosceles, proposed generic distances. and family-level relationships within this lineage have been in con- The extant distribution of sicariid species suggests that their siderable flux (Brignoli, 1976; Alayón-García, 1981; Lehtinen, 1983; diversification was influenced by vicariance events resulting from Platnick et al., 1991; Goloboff and Ramirez, 1991). The current sta- continental drift. The concentration of species diversity of Loxosce- tus of Loxsceles and Sicarius as unified within the family Sicariidae les and Sicarius on Africa and the Americas is consistent with a was proposed by Platnick et al., 1991, based on synapomorphies common sicariid ancestor on Western Gondwana with early diver- in spinneret morphology. These two genera also uniquely share gence initiated by separation of these continents which was com- the dermonecrotic venom toxin sphingomyelinase D (Binford and plete 95 MYA (Pitman et al., 1993). Recovery of reciprocal Wells, 2003). The proposed sister-taxon to Sicariidae includes Dry- monophyly of taxa on each continent, and divergence times that musidae, Scytodidae (Platnick et al., 1991), and Periegopidae (For- predate this split would be consistent with such a biogeographic ster, 1995; Coddington et al., 2004). Members of the monogeneric influence. Furthermore, the hypothesis of a common ancestor for family Drymusidae are poorly known, but currently described from Loxosceles on Western Gondwana would require colonization of Africa, South and Central America, and the West Indies (Valerio North America from South America. This scenario would be sup- 1971; Alayón-García, 1981; Goloboff and Ramirez, 1991; Platnick, ported by a monophyletic North American Loxosceles clade with a 2008). Scytodidae are found worldwide and Periegopidae are Aus- sister-taxon relationship to South American Loxosceles. In addition, tralasian (Forster, 1995; Platnick, 2008). Molecular phylogenetic the presence of native Loxosceles species on the islands of the West studies that would provide independent evidence of the relation- Indies (Gertsch and Ennik, 1983) and the discovery of a fossil Lox- ships proposed by morphology have not been published to date. osceles in Dominican amber (ca. 20 MYA) (Wunderlich, 2004) are Knowledge of dispersal biology is central to understanding bio- consistent with a presence in the region that predates the modern geographic patterns. Sicariids are not naturally long-range dispers- Isthmus of Panama (Morley, 2003; Pennington and Dick, 2004). ers (Binford, personal observation). Loxosceles are found in caves or There are a series of proposed temporary land connections that on or near the ground in crevices made by natural debris such as could serve as dispersal corridors between South America and cracks in dry hillsides, between rocks or plant debris and the North America. Dates of these connections range between 70 and ground. Human debris also creates crevices that are ideal habitat 15 MYA (reviewed in Sanmartin and Ronquist, 2004). (Hite et al. 1966; Gertsch, 1967; Gertsch and Ennik, 1983; Fischer The goal of this work is to use molecular phylogenetics and and Vasconcellos-Neto, 2005 and personal observation). Sicarius, molecular dating analyses to test the hypothesis that large-scale like Loxosceles, live in shallow caves and in crevices made between divergence patterns within sicariid