Correlation with a limited set of behavioral niches explains the
convergence of somatic morphology in mygalomorph spiders
Abstract
Understanding the drivers of morphological convergence requires
investigation into its relationship with behavior and niche-space, and
such investigations in turn provide insights into evolutionary dynamics,
functional morphology, and life history. Mygalomorph spiders (trapdoor
spiders and their kin) have long been associated with high levels of
homoplasy, and many convergent features can be intuitively associated
with different behavioral niches. Using genus-level phylogenies based on
recent genomic studies and a newly assembled matrix of discrete
behavioral and somatic morphological characters, we reconstruct the
evolution of burrowing behavior in the Mygalomorphae, compare the
influence of behavior and evolutionary history on somatic morphology,
and test hypotheses of correlated evolution between specific
morphological features and behavior. Our results reveal the simplicity
of the mygalomorph adaptive landscape, with opportunistic, web-building
taxa at one end, and burrowing/nesting taxa with structurally-modified
burrow entrances (e.g., a trapdoor) at the other. Shifts in behavioral
niche, in both directions, are common across the evolutionary history of
the Mygalomorphae, and several major clades include taxa inhabiting both
behavioral extremes. Somatic morphology is heavily influenced by
behavior, with taxa inhabiting the same behavioral niche often more
similar morphologically than more closely-related but
behaviorally-divergent taxa, and we were able to identify a suite of 11
somatic features that show significant correlation with particular
behaviors. We discuss these findings in light of the function of
particular morphological features, niche dynamics within the
Mygalomorphae, and constraints on the mygalomorph adaptive landscape
relative to other spiders.