First catalog of spiders of Egypt (Araneae)

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  First catalog of spiders of Egypt (Araneae) Abstract This study provides a comprehensive catalog of the spider fauna of Egypt, comprising 389 species assigned to 197 genera and 40 families. For each species, all published locality records are compiled and accompanied by complete bibliographic references. The dataset has been carefully reviewed and critically evaluated in light of the most recent taxonomic and faunistic information. Among the recorded species, 55 (14.13%) are currently known only from Egypt and are thus considered endemic. Based on the World Spider Catalog (2026), 28 species are treated as nomina dubia, 23 species lack confirmed records from Egypt, which is not correct, 10 have to be omitted from the Egyptian list and 8 are species inquirenda. Despite the relatively high number of documented species, the Egyptian araneofauna remains insufficiently explored. Given the country’s ecological diversity and biogeographical position, further research is expected to signi...

Tracing the evolution of venom basic Asp49 phospholipases A2 of New World pitvipers and their Asian sisters, focusing on the conserved enzyme variants with Asn6- or Arg6-substitution

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Tracing the evolution of venom basic Asp49 phospholipases A2 of New World pitvipers and their Asian sisters, focusing on the conserved enzyme variants with Asn6- or Arg6-substitution

Abstract

We searched for and compared venom phospholipase A2 (PLA2) sequences containing either Asn6 or Arg6 substitutions expressed in New World pitvipers and their Asian sister taxa within the genera Gloydius, Protobothrops, and Ovophis. Phylogenetic analyses based on 35 of these PLA2s, and multiple sequence alignments, revealed the independent evolution of three subtypes of N6-PLA2s and two distinct lineages of R6-PLA2s. The results help to pinpoint the most likely Asian sister lineages of present-day New-World pitvipers.
Tsai, I., & Tsai, T. (2026). Tracing the evolution of venom basic Asp49 phospholipases A2 of New World pitvipers and their Asian sisters, focusing on the conserved enzyme variants with Asn6- or Arg6-substitution. Toxicon, 109051. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2026.109051