About This Project

Spiders are abundant and very interesting invertebrates, but there is still much we don't know about their diversity and distribution, especially in North America where it is estimated that only 27% of arachnids have been studied. Our objetive is study Phidippus spiders in North American, under a taxonomic, ecological, and evolutionary approach to evaluate its center of origin, geographic delimitation and divergence rates with parametric biogeography methods.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

The spiders of the Salticidae family or also known as jumping spiders, are the family with the largest number of species, and the genus Phidippus has more than 60 species, and most of them are found in North America. These spiders are very charismatic due to their colors and size. This spiders have been studied in morphological and behavioral topics , and there is only one work on their phylogeny, but this was done based on their morphology. We know very well the biology and ecology of these spiders; however, we need to understand their evolutionary history, and for this, it is necessary to obtain dated phylogenies and combine parametric biogeography methods to estimate their center of origin, divergence rates, and phylogenetic diversity of the species in the North. America.

What is the significance of this project?

We know a lot about the ecology and biology of spiders; but, the patterns of distribution, evolution history, and diversification remain controversial. We need more work on comparative analysis of the evolution of spiders, using molecular phylogenies for a better understanding of the evolution of spiders.

We have two hypotheses; the first, species of the genus Phidippus are monophyletic, and their most recent common ancestor diverged after the Eocene in North America. The second is, Phidippus species diversified gradually since the Miocene.

What are the goals of the project?

To test our hypotheses, we first have to obtain a dated phylogeny; this phylogeny will be obtained with ultraconserved elements (UCEs) in North America, how and when was its diversification and radiation and what were its evolutionary and historical biogeographic processes that shaped its current distribution.

The DNA samples will be obtained from museum samples and collaborations with people around North America, we hope to be able to capture UCEs of the more than 60 species of Phidippus that are described in North America.