Mitochondrial markers reveal deep population subdivision in the European protected spider <Emphasis Type="Italic">Macrothele calpeiana</Emphasis> (Walckenaer, 1805) (Araneae,Hexathelidae) |
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Authors: | Miquel A Arnedo Miguel-Angel Ferrández |
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Institution: | 1.Departament de Biologia Animal,Universitat de Barcelona,Barcelona,Spain;2.Sociedad para el Estudio y la Conservación de las Ara?as,Madrid,Spain |
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Abstract: | The funnel-web spider genus Macrothele is the only representative of the mygalomorph family Hexathelidae not found in Australia or New Zealand. Its 26 species occur
in Central Africa and the Oriental region. Two Macrothele species are found in Europe: M. cretica Kulczynski, 1903 from Crete, and M. calpeiana (Walckenaer, 1805) type species of the genus and the largest European spider, whose distribution extends across the south-eastern
Iberian Peninsula, and in two localities of North Africa. Macrothele calpeiana is the only spider protected under European legislation. The fragmentation and destruction of the cork oak forest, with which
M. calpeiana was thought to be closely associated, prompted the inclusion of this species in the Bern Convention. Some authors, however,
have challenged this view and consider M. calpeiana to be neither a cork oak forest bioindicator nor an endangered species. By contrast, other observations suggest that the
distribution of the species is extremely fragmented and that most local populations should be considered as threatened. In
this paper, we examine aspects of the conservation status of M. calpeiana in the light of molecular phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial markers of sample specimens from major populations.
Our data confirm the fragmented distribution of M. calpeiana and reveal high levels of genetic differentiation across its populations. Local population growth cannot be ruled out, though
the lineage as a whole has apparently not undergone population growth. Lineage age estimates suggest that M. calpeiana colonized the Iberian Peninsula during the Messinian salinity crisis and that the current population fragmentation originates
from the Pliocene and Pleistocene. We argue that the fragmentation and deep genetic divergence across populations, along with
evolutionary singularity and endemicity in one of Europe’s main biodiversity hotspots, support the preservation of its legally
protected status. |
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Keywords: | Population fragmentation Mitochondrial genetic variation Iberian Peninsula Betic-Rifean region Spider conservation |
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