title: Chemosystematics in the Opiliones (Arachnida): a comment on the evolutionary history of alkylphenols and benzoquinones in the scent gland secretions of Laniatores.
abstract: Large prosomal scent glands constitute a major synapomorphic character of the arachnid order Opiliones. These glands produce a variety of chemicals very specific to opilionid taxa of different taxonomic levels, and thus represent a model system to investigate the evolutionary traits in exocrine secretion chemistry across a phylogenetically old group of animals. The chemically best-studied opilionid group is certainly Laniatores, and currently available chemical data allow first hypotheses linking the phylogeny of this group to the evolution of major chemical classes of secretion chemistry. Such hypotheses are essential to decide upon a best-fitting explanation of the distribution of scent-gland secretion compounds across extant laniatorean taxa, and hence represent a key toward a well-founded opilionid chemosystematics.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Karl-Franzens-University Universitätsplatz 2, 8010, Graz, Austria ; Research Unit of Osteology and Analytical Mass Spectrometry, Medical University, University Children's Hospital Auenbruggerplatz 30, 8036, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Günther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Raspotnig
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Karl-Franzens-University Universitätsplatz 2, 8010, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bodner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Karl-Franzens-University Universitätsplatz 2, 8010, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schäffer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Karl-Franzens-University Universitätsplatz 2, 8010, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koblmüller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Johannes Gutenberg University Johannes-von-Müller-Weg 6, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schönhofer
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Novi Sad Trg Dositeja Obradovica 2, 2100, Novi Sad, Serbia.
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Karaman