Evaluating the efficacy of continuous quantitative characters for reconstructing the phylogeny of a morphologically homogeneous spider taxon (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Antrodiaetidae, Antrodiaetus)

The use of continuous quantitative characters for phylogenetic analyses has long been contentious in the systematics literature. Recent studies argue for and against their use, but there have been relatively few attempts to evaluate whether these characters provide an accurate estimate of phylogeny, despite the fact that a number of methods have been developed to analyze these types of data for phylogenetic inference. A tree topology will be produced for a given methodology and set of characters, but little can be concluded with regards to the accuracy of phylogenetic signal without an independent evaluation of those characters. We assess the performance of continuous quantitative characters for the mygalomorph spider genus Antrodiaetus, a group that is morphologically homogeneous and one for which few discrete (morphological) characters have been observed. Phylogenetic signal contained in continuous quantitative characters is compared to an independently derived phylogeny inferred on the basis of multiple nuclear and mitochondrial gene loci. Tree topology randomizations, regression techniques, and topological tests all demonstrate that continuous quantitative characters in Antrodiaetus conflict with the phylogenetic signal contained in the gene trees. Our results show that the use of continuous quantitative characters for phylogenetic reconstruction may be inappropriate for reconstructing Antrodiaetus phylogeny and indicate that due caution should be exercised before employing this character type in the absence of other independently derived sources of characters.