Big Spider, Big Genome: Chromosome-level genome of a North American tarantula (Aphonopelma marxi) and comparative genomics across 300 million years of spider evolution

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  Image Credit: WikiCommons Big Spider, Big Genome: Chromosome-level genome of a North American tarantula (Aphonopelma marxi) and comparative genomics across 300 million years of spider evolution Abstract The comparison of chromosome-level genomes allows biologists to investigate new axes of organismal evolution. Spiders comprise a significant proportion of known arachnid diversity, with many complex morphologies and unique natural histories, yet comparative genomics in spiders has been limited due to the number of available genomes. We present a de novo chromosomal reference genome of a mature male tarantula, Aphonopelma marxi, and comparatively examine spider genome evolution across the Order Araneae. Using PacBio HiFi and Hi-C sequencing, the final 6.5 Gb assembly consists of 17 autosomes, 1 X chromosome, and 127 unplaced scaffolds, with an N50 of 370 Mb and Arachnida (odb10; 2934 genes) BUSCO of 96.7%. By comparing 20 additional spider genomes from 15 families, we find mygalomo...

Descriptions of three new Heteropoda spiders from tropical Asia (Araneae: Sparassidae)

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Descriptions of three new Heteropoda spiders from tropical Asia (Araneae: Sparassidae)

Abstract

Three new species of the genus Heteropoda (Araneae: Sparassidae: Heteropodinae) are described: Heteropoda curvata sp. nov. (♂, Sabah), Heteropoda flamma sp. nov. (♂, Hainan), and Heteropoda lucerna sp. nov. (♀, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region). Detailed morphological descriptions, diagnostic illustrations, and a distribution map are provided for each species to facilitate identification and comparison with congeners.

KORAI, S. K., & JÄGER, P. (2025). Descriptions of three new Heteropoda spiders from tropical Asia (Araneae: Sparassidae). European Journal of Taxonomy, 1022(1), 277-287. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2025.1022.3091