Systematics of the genus M ayazomus ( A rachnida: S chizomida): the relevance of using continuous characters and pedipalp setae patterns to schizomid phylogenetics

The schizomid genus M ayazomus   R eddell & C ockendolpher, 1995, endemic to south‐eastern M exico, currently comprises seven species. It was originally proposed to accommodate two species, from C hiapas and T abasco. Recently, five additional species from C hiapas were described. The monophyly of the genus has never been tested using cladistic analysis. We undertook a phylogenetic analysis using the seven described species of M ayazomus as the ingroup, ten exemplar species representing the most similar New World hubbardiids as the outgroup, and one protoschizomid species to root the tree. The analysis was based on 130 morphological characters (continuous and discrete characters). The resulting topologies recovered M ayazomus as paraphyletic, with H eteronochrus estor   A rmas & V iquez, 2010, from G uatemala nested within the genus; therefore, we formally propose its synonymy herein. M ayazomus appears to be most closely related to R owlandius   R eddell & C okendolpher, 1995, a South American genus. This contribution also provides new characters derived from the pedipalp setae with important phylogenetic information; as well as the implementation of morphometric ratios, as continuous characters, to partially codify the shape of the male flagellum. The relationships recovered amongst the outgroups used in this contribution are a reliable baseline for future analyses of the phylogeny of the New World schizomids.