Venom composition of the Iberian adder (Vipera seoanei) from northern Portugal reveals limited sex and size variation

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  Venom composition of the Iberian adder (Vipera seoanei) from northern Portugal reveals limited sex and size variation Abstract Snake venom is a complex and dynamic ecological trait, with high potential for intraspecific variation. In this study, the venom composition of the Iberian adder ( Vipera seoanei ) from the Peneda Mountains of northern Portugal was investigated to explore whether venom varies with body size and sex. Venom proteomes from six individuals representing juvenile, subadult, and adult males and females were characterised using LC–MS/MS, while individual variation was assessed from SDS–PAGE profiles of 18 snakes. LC–MS/MS identified 144 proteins, dominated by phospholipases A 2 (PLA 2 ), snake venom serine proteases (svSP), and C-type lectin-related proteins (CTL). Descriptive comparisons revealed contrasting individual profiles, particularly between the juvenile male, characterised by high svSP and svMP abundance, and the juvenile female, characterised by high ...

Spider nest-retreat origin, diversification, and architectural plasticity link to historical and current temperature fluctuations

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Spider nest-retreat origin, diversification, and architectural plasticity link to historical and current temperature fluctuations

Abstract

Ongoing climate change mandates improved understanding of how temperature fluctuations influence organismal evolution and behavior. Detritus-based nest-retreats in spiders have originated multiple times in parallel—hypothesized to be an adaptive response to climatic fluctuations. We investigated the potential role of climate change in shaping the evolution of nest-retreats over geological timescales, and the short-term effect of temperature on the morphology and energy investment of nest-retreats in Campanicola campanulata (Theridiidae). Phylogenetic analyses reconstruct twelve origins of nest-retreats, first appearing in the Eocene, and diversifying during the Late Cenozoic Icehouse period. Spiders respond to experimentally lowered temperatures by making larger nest-retreats, indicating a direct impact of temperature on retreat architecture. Our results for the first time affirm the thermoregulatory function of spider nests and suggest that temperature impacts nest-retreats across both evolutionary and ecological timescales. Nest-retreat spiders can serve as a model to study the origins of thermoregulatory nest-building in animals and how it may be impacted by ongoing climate change.
Zhong, R., Chang, J., Wang, Y., Zhang, H., Peng, Y., Agnarsson, I., & Liu, J. (2026). Spider nest-retreat origin, diversification, and architectural plasticity link to historical and current temperature fluctuations. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 214, 108478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2025.108478