engleski

Dinaric karst subterranean diversity: old relicts in a highly dynamic environment

The Dinaric karst, which covers the western part of the Balkan Peninsula, is a global hotspot of subterranean biodiversity. Spiders of the family Dysderidae are among the most conspicuous creatures in Dinaric caves, where they are represented by eight genera, two in the subfamily Harpacteinae (Stalagtia and Folkia) and five in Rhodinae, (Rhode, Stalita, Mesostalita, Parastalita and Stalitella), adding up to a total of 21 species. All these species are Dinaric endemics, and almost all are troglobiotic (obligatory cave dwellers). The two subfamilies show near disjunct distributions in the region, Harpacteine are restricted to the south part of the Dinarides and Rhodinae (with few exceptions) to the north part. With the aim of providing an explicit phylogenetic hypothesis of the family, we conducted a mutli-locus phylogenetic analysis combining mitochondrial and nuclear genes (COI, 16S, 28S and H3). Our results revealed a more complex taxonomic structure than currently recognized, and uncovered major overlooked diversity at the species and generic levels. Quantitative species delimitation methods confirmed the existence of many potentially new species, and revealed high levels of cryptic diversity within Harpacteinae. We further estimated divergence times using a combination of fossil and biogeographic node calibrations and reconstructed the biogeographic history of these spiders. All cave lineages showed a common pattern of long stem branches, which may hint at high levels of extinction in the history of these groups. We hypothesize that Miocene climatic changes may have played a crucial role in shaping the extant diversity of these cave-dwelling dysderids.

cave Dysderidae ; Dinarids ; phylogeny ; biogeography

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