Systematics and Phylogeography of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest Endemic Harvestmen Neosadocus Mello-Leitão, 1926 (Arachnida: Opiliones: Gonyleptidae)

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2021 Jun 2

PMID 34077418

Citations 1

Authors

Daniel Castro-Pereira

Elen A Peres

Ricardo Pinto-da-Rocha

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Neosadocus harvestmen are endemic to the Southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Although they are conspicuous and display great morphological variation, their evolutionary history and the biogeographical events underlying their diversification and distribution are still unknown. This contribution about Neosadocus includes the following: a taxonomic revision; a molecular phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial and nuclear markers; an investigation of the genetic structure and species' diversity in a phylogeographical framework. Our results show that Neosadocus is a monophyletic group and comprises four species: N. bufo, N. maximus, N. robustus and N. misandrus (which we did not find on fieldwork and only studied the female holotype). There is astonishing male polymorphism in N. robustus, mostly related to reproductive strategies. The following synonymies have resulted from this work: "Bunoweyhia" variabilis Mello-Leitão, 1935 = Neosadocus bufo (Mello-Leitão, 1926); and "Bunoweyhia" minor Mello-Leitão, 1935 = Neosadocus maximus (Giltay, 1928). Most divergences occurred during the Miocene, a geological epoch marked by intense orogenic and climatic events in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Intraspecific analyses indicate strong population structure, a pattern congruent with the general behavior and physiological constraints of Neotropical harvestmen.

Citing Articles

Phylogeographic and genetic insights into Sinonychia martensi: an endemic cave-dwelling harvestman in Beijing.

Xiao R, Zhao J, Zhao L, Derkarabetian S, Zhang F, Zhang C BMC Ecol Evol. 2025; 25(1):5.

PMID: 39773162 PMC: 11708087. DOI: 10.1186/s12862-024-02341-z.

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