PRJNA760946
Phylogenomics of paleoendemic lampshade spiders (Araneae, Hypochilidae, Hypochilus), with description of a new species from montane california
Hypochilus is an ancient genus of spider located near the root of Araneomorphs of the spider tree of life. This relictual lineage of Nearctic species is geographically disjunct across the United states in three biogeographic clades (California, Rocky Mountains, and Southern Appalachia), and in fact the family Hypochilidae shows a classic disjunct Holarctic distribution often found in dispersal challenged terrestrial fauna. Generic resolution of Hypochilus has been elusive with different data types presenting conflicting topologies. Furthermore, conserved morphology coupled with extreme genetic divergence and paraphyletic topologies and the species level has led to the suspicion of cryptic species within the genus. Using Ultraconserved Elements (UCEs), we have reconstructed the generic phylogeny and inter-species relationships for Hypochilus, as well as discovered cryptic species (herein described) within the California biogeographic clade.