Convergent evolution of sexually dimorphic glands in an amphi-Pacific harvestman family
Guilherme Gainett
A D , Rodrigo H. Willemart B , Gonzalo Giribet C and Prashant P. Sharma A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 352 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
B Laboratório de Ecologia Sensorial e Comportamento de Artrópodes, Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua Arlindo Béttio, 1000, Ermelino Matarazzo, São Paulo, SP 03828-000, Brazil.
C Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
D Corresponding author. Email: guilherme.gainett@wisc.edu
Invertebrate Systematics 34(8) 871-892 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS20010
Submitted: 8 March 2020 Accepted: 16 July 2020 Published: 16 November 2020
Abstract
Sexually dimorphic traits are widespread in animals, and include sex-specific weapons, ornamentation and, although less noticed, glands and associated structures. In arachnids, certain lineages of the order Opiliones exhibit diverse forms of dimorphism in the armature and length of appendages (common in Laniatores), as well as in the presence of sexually dimorphic glands (mostly investigated in Cyphophthalmi), positing harvestmen as promising models to study sexual dimorphism. Whereas the evolution and ecological significance of armature have been the focus of recent attention, sexually dimorphic glands remain understudied in groups other than Cyphophthalmi, despite being widespread in Opiliones. We therefore selected the amphi-Pacific family Zalmoxidae as an ideal taxon to investigate the evolutionary dynamics of this trait. We first describe four new species of Palaeotropical Zalmoxis, including a species with sexually dimorphic glands, and describe the morphology of zalmoxid species with sexually dimorphic glands using scanning electron microscopy. Using a previously assembled six-locus dataset supplemented with new terminals, and applying stochastic character mapping, we infer that sexually dimorphic glands evolved once in the Neotropics and at least four times in the Palaeotropic zalmoxids, revealing the evolutionary lability of this trait.
Additional keywords: Arachnida, Laniatores, Opiliones, sexual dimorphism, stochastic character mapping, Zalmoxidae.
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