Research Seminar – Dr. Prashant Sharma, University of Wisconsin Madison

1014 North Lawn Hall 221 Hackberry Lane, Tuscaloosa

Making horseshoe crabs crabs again: Integrating data classes in the phylogenetic inference of ancient radiations The backbone phylogeny of Chelicerata--the subphylum of arthropods that includes spiders, mites, and horseshoe crabs--remains intractable to phylogenetic resolution, owing to a confluence of conflicting phylogenetic signal, long branch attraction artifacts, limitations in taxonomic sampling, and episodic extinction at the ordinal level. Salient sampling omissions in modern chelicerate phylogenies include the miniaturized orders Palpigradi and Schizomida, as well as Opilioacariformes, the sister group to the [...]