Molecular and Morphological Systematics of the Spider Infraorder Mygalomorphae (Araneae)

蜘蛛亚目Mygalomorphae包括狼蛛、狒狒、活板门、钱包网和漏斗网蜘蛛。 虽然不像它的姐妹谱系Aranemorphae（“真正的”蜘蛛，例如球织蜘蛛）那样多样化，但Mygalomorphes的物种丰富（15个科280属2,500多个物种），并使用丝绸建造惊人的多样性巢穴。 这些丝绸结构，通常被认为是原始的，包括活板门，衣领，塔楼，管道，漏斗，床单和空间填充网。 虽然这些蜘蛛显示出许多有趣的和未经研究的形态模式，并显示出经典的地理模式（例如，虽然在新西兰、马达加斯加、南非和南美洲南部有相同科的成员，但这一组的大部分遗传学仍然没有解决。 此外，迄今为止所有的菌形系统发育研究都仅仅依赖于形态特征，因此缺乏独立的确证。 本研究采用形态学和分子生物学的综合方法来研究丝状菌的发生。 在北美洲、南美洲和中美洲、南部非洲、亚洲和西澳大利亚州收集的标本将与主要博物馆收藏的标本一起用于分子、形态和自然史研究。 所有形态特征的数字化图像和详细的自然历史记录将作为myglomorph互联网数据库的一部分在万维网上提供。 由此产生的遗传学将支持研究丝绸使用和纺纱结构的起源和多样化，丝绸使用，习惯和趋同进化之间的关系，以及小型化对形态变化的影响。 这是首次对这一重要分类群的分子序列数据进行分析。两名研究生将接受蜘蛛系统学方面的培训，这是一个现有专业知识不足的领域。

AbstractThe spider infraorder Mygalomorphae includes tarantula, baboon, trapdoor, purse web, and funnel web spiders. While not as diverse as its sister lineage the Aranemorphae ("true" spiders, for example the orb weavers), mygalomorphs are rich in species (over 2,500 species in 280 genera placed in 15 families) and use silks to build an amazing diversity of nests. These silk constructs, generally regarded as primitive, include trapdoors, collars, turrets, tubes, funnels, sheets, and space filling webs. Although these spiders show many interesting and unstudied patterns of morphology and show classic biogeographical patterns (e.g., members of the same family occurring in New Zealand, Madagascar, South Africa, and southern South America), much of the phylogeny of this group remains unresolved. Furthermore, all mygalomorph phylogenetic studies to date have relied solely on morphological characters, thus lacking independentcorroboration. This study examines mygalomorph phylogeny using an integrated set of both morphological and molecular characters. Specimens collected in North, South, and Central America, Southern Africa, Asia, and Western Australia will be used in conjunction with specimens from major museum collections, for molecular, morphological, and natural history studies. Digitized images of all morphological characters scored and detailed natural history notes will be made available on the World Wide Web as part of a myglomorph internet database. The resulting phylogeny will support studies of the origin and diversification of silk use and spinning structures, the relationship between silk use, habits and convergent evolution, and the influence of miniaturization on morphological change. This is the first analysis of molecular sequence data for this important taxon. And two graduate students will be trained in spider systematics, an area with inadequate existing expertise.