Open AccessFirst fossil Molinaranea Mello‐Leitão, 1940 (Araneae: Araneidae), from middle Miocene Dominican amber, with a phylogenetic and palaeobiogeographical analysis of the genus
Author(s) -
SAUPE ERIN E.,
SELDEN PAUL A.,
PENNEY DAVID
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
zoological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1096-3642
pISSN - 0024-4082
DOI - 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00581.x
Subject(s) - biology , biogeography , genus , biological dispersal , range (aeronautics) , phylogenetic tree , zoology , extant taxon , ecology , evolutionary biology , population , demography , biochemistry , materials science , sociology , gene , composite material
The first fossil Molinaranea is described, from middle Miocene Dominican amber. This record extends the known range of the genus back 16 million years; it also extends the geographical range of the genus through time, with extant species known only from Chile, Argentina, the Falkland Islands, and Juan Fernandez Island. A parsimony‐based phylogenetic analysis was performed, which indicates that the fossil species, Molinaranea mitnickii sp. nov. , is nested with Molinaranea magellanica Walckenaer, 1847 and Molinaranea clymene Nicolet, 1849. A modified Brooks parsimony analysis was conducted in order to examine the biogeography and origins of the fossil species in the Dominican Republic; the analysis suggests that M. mitnickii sp. nov. arrived in Hispaniola from South America as a result of a chance dispersal event. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2010, 158 , 711–725.