Hidden diversity in plain sight: four new species of Nemesia (Araneae: Mygalomorphae) from the Córdoba Province of Spain

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  Hidden diversity in plain sight: four new species of Nemesia (Araneae: Mygalomorphae) from the Córdoba Province of Spain Abstract A taxonomic revision of the species of Nemesia Audouin, 1826, distributed in the vicinity of Córdoba City, southern Spain, is presented. Four new species are described: Nemesia morana sp. nov. (female), N. kodama sp. nov. (male and female), N. rosae sp. nov. (male and female), and N. tamajoni sp. nov. (male and female). These species are distinguished by distinct morphological characters, including the shape of the spermathecae, palpal bulbs, and spinnerets, as well as by burrow architecture. Fieldwork was conducted across two of the three major habitat types in the region—the humid, forested mountains of Sierra Morena and the croplands and riparian forests of the Guadalquivir Valley—while the third, the “campiña”, which is mainly composed of agricultural landscapes, remains poorly explored. Sampling methods included pitfall trapping and the direct e...

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