Systematic revision and total evidence phylogenetic analysis of the Andean family Metasarcidae Kury, 1994 (Opiliones: Laniatores), with description of two new genera and twenty new species

Abstract

Metasarcidae Kury, 1994 (Gonyleptoidea) is exclusively distributed in the Andean region of South America, from northern Peru to southern Bolivia. This contribution reviews the family using traditional taxonomy and cladistics. The cladistic analysis is based on total evidence (TE), maximum likelihood (ML) and direct optimization of molecular and morphological characters. The data matrix is composed of DNA sequences from three mitochondrial loci (12S rRNA, 16S rRNA and COI), from two nuclear loci (28S rRNA and H3) and 68 phenotypic characters. The dataset consists of 25 ingroup terminals (representing 20 species of the family) and eight outgroup species. The parsimony analysis resulted in one most parsimonious tree (L=4910) that recovered a monophyletic Metasarcidae, sister-group of Cosmetidae. As a result of the taxonomic revision and cladistic hypothesis, a new classification is proposed with six genera and 38 valid species of Metasarcidae, of which two genera and 20 species are described for the first time. Additionally, the following are established: six generic name synonymies; four species synonymies; seven new species combinations; and three secondary homonym species names replaced.