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Dryad

Mygalomorph spiders: Discrete data matrix of burrow construction behavior and somatic morphology

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Nov 29, 2022 version files 137.64 KB

Abstract

Mygalomorph spiders (trapdoor spiders and their kin) have long been associated with high levels of homoplasy, and many convergent features can be intuitively associated with different behavioral niches. This dataset includes two discrete behavioral characters and 55 somatic morphological characters (scored from adult females), for 110 genera of mygalomorph spiders, along with a complete reference list and exemplar list used when constructing the dataset. This dataset was used to reconstruct the evolution of burrowing behavior in the Mygalomorphae, compare the influence of behavior and evolutionary history on somatic morphology, and test hypotheses of correlated evolution between specific morphological features and behavior. The results revealed the simplicity of the mygalomorph adaptive landscape, with opportunistic, web-building taxa at one end, and burrowing/nesting taxa with structurally-modified burrow entrances (e.g., a trapdoor) at the other. Shifts in behavioral niche, in both directions, are common across the evolutionary history of the Mygalomorphae, and several major clades include taxa inhabiting both behavioral extremes. Somatic morphology is heavily influenced by behavior, with taxa inhabiting the same behavioral niche often more similar morphologically than more closely-related but behaviorally-divergent taxa.