Permanent social living in spiders has resulted in the subdivision of their populations in more or less isolated and inbred colony lineages that grow, proliferate and become extinct without mixing with one another. Our results demonstrate marked effects of inbreeding on genetic structure and diversity.
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We show that inbreeding in social spiders results in marked loss of genetic variability in the long run. This finding has implications for many species who due to habitat fragmentation increasingly rely on inbreeding.
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In this paper currently in review, we show that one of the most variable nuclear loci is highly useful for phylogenetics among Anelosimus species, but, due to inbreeding and loss of variability it lacks variation within the social species. This both confirms the effect of inbreeding, and highlights the need to focus on microsatellite data to complement the mitochondrial data to understand fully the consequences of inbreeding.
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In the paper in preparation, we show that sociality and inbreeding not only change the intraspecific genetic structure and variability, but also shape the distribution and diversity of species across the globe. Few study systems have allowed linking behavior to genetics to biodiversity, biogeography, and modes of speciation. The current project is thus helping to transform this study system from a model in 'social evolution' to a much more inclusive system.
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In this taxonomic biogeographic study we demonstrate that Anelosimus spider lineages in Madagascar are not closely related. The social lineage groups with other social species, but the solitary lineage has colonized Madagascar independently.
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