James Starrett

Hemocyanins are multimeric copper-containing hemolymph proteins involved in oxygen binding and transport in all major arthropod lineages. Most arachnids have seven primary subunits (encoded by paralogous genes a-g), which combine...

Spider silk genes are composed mostly of repetitive sequence that is flanked by non-repetitive terminal regions. Inferences about the evolutionary processes that influenced silk genes have largely been made from...

Antrodiaetus riversi is a dispersal-limited, habitat-specialized mygalomorph spider species endemic to mesic woodlands of northern and central California. Here, we build upon prior phylogeographic research using a much larger geographic...

Next-generation sequencing technologies are rapidly transforming molecular systematic studies of non-model animal taxa. The arachnid order Opiliones (commonly known as "harvestmen") includes more than 6,400 described species placed into four...

Silk spinning is essential to spider ecology and has had a key role in the expansive diversification of spiders. Silk is composed primarily of proteins called spidroins, which are encoded...

Background: The California Floristic Province is a biodiversity hotspot, reflecting a complex geologic history, strong selective gradients, and a heterogeneous landscape. These factors have led to high endemic diversity across...

Hsp70s are a ubiquitous family of highly conserved proteins. Hsp70s are chaperones and have important roles in both protein folding and thermotolerance. It has been widely assumed that Hsp70 sequence...

Antrodiaetus riversi (Araneae, Antrodiaetidae) is a dispersal-limited, habitat specialized mygalomorph spider species endemic to mesic woodlands of northern and central California. This species occupies a disjunct distribution, with populations in...