A new family of Laniatores (Arachnida : Opiliones) from the Afrotropics
Prashant P. Sharma A C , Carlos E. Prieto B and Gonzalo Giribet A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
B Department of Zoology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, PO Box 644, 48080, Bilbao, Spain.
C Corresponding author. Email: psharma@fas.harvard.edu
Invertebrate Systematics 25(2) 143-154 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS11003
Submitted: 13 January 2011 Accepted: 20 June 2011 Published: 30 September 2011
Abstract
Among Opiliones, Afrotropical lineages constitute some of the least studied groups in comparison with those endemic to other biogeographic provinces. Based upon morphological evidence, we erect Pyramidopidae, fam. nov. to distinguish a group of Laniatores from the family Phalangodidae. We review evidence from recent molecular phylogenetic studies that corroborate the independence of Pyramidopidae, fam. nov. from previously described families and support its sister relationship to another largely Afrotropical group, the family Assamiidae. The monotypic genus Maiorerus Rambla, 1993 is transferred to Pyramidopidae, fam. nov. The new family comprises 12 genera geographically restricted to Africa and the adjacent Canary Islands. Interfamilial relationships of the derived Laniatores are discussed in the context of gross and genitalic morphology.
Additional keywords: Canary Islands, Conomma, Grassatores, Maiorerus, Pyramidopidae, Pyramidops.
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