Miocene extensional tectonics explain ancient patterns of diversification among turret-building tarantulas (Aphonopelma mojave group) in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts

摘要

AimPhylogeographical studies in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts often find genetic discontinuities that pre-date the Pleistocene. A recent synthesis of phylogeographical data, called the Mojave Assembly Model, provides a hypothesis for the historical assembly of these desert biotas but does not adequately capture the complexity of pre-Pleistocene vicariance events. We tested this model and assessed pre-Pleistocene divergences by exploring the phylogeography of the Aphonopelma mojave group, which is composed of turret-building tarantula species from the Mojave and Sonoran deserts.