Molecular phylogeny, divergence times and biogeography of spiders of the subfamily Euophryinae (Araneae: Salticidae)

Abstract

We investigate phylogenetic relationships of the jumping spider subfamily Euophryinae, diverse in species and genera in both the Old World and New World. DNA sequence data of four gene regions (nuclear: 28S, Actin 5C; mitochondrial: 16S-ND1, COI) were collected from 263 jumping spider species. The molecular phylogeny obtained by Bayesian, likelihood and parsimony methods strongly supports the monophyly of a Euophryinae re-delimited to include 85 genera. Diolenius and its relatives are shown to be euophryines. Euophryines from different continental regions generally form separate clades on the phylogeny, with few cases of mixture. Known fossils of jumping spiders were used to calibrate a divergence time analysis, which suggests most divergences of euophryines were after the Eocene. Given the divergence times, several intercontinental dispersal events are required to explain the distribution of euophryines. Early transitions of continental distribution between the Old and New World may have been facilitated by the Antarctic land bridge, which euophryines may have been uniquely able to exploit because of their apparent cold tolerance. Two hot-spots of diversity of euophryines are discovered: New Guinea and the Caribbean Islands. Implications of the molecular phylogeny on the taxonomy of euophryines, and on the evolution of unusual genitalic forms and myrmecophagy, are also briefly discussed.