Inter-individual variability in equine antibody responses to African snake venoms follows heavy-tailed distributions with implications for antivenom production

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  Inter-individual variability in equine antibody responses to African snake venoms follows heavy-tailed distributions with implications for antivenom production Abstract Variability in the antibody response of horses used for snake antivenom manufacture is well recognized, yet its statistical structure and implications for industrial productivity remain poorly characterized. In this study, we quantified antivenom antibody titers by ELISA in a cohort of 14 horses immunized with venoms from the clinically most important snakes in sub-Saharan Africa. To integrate antibody levels with plasma availability, we calculated the Cumulative Plasma Productivity (CPP) by converting individual plasma volumes into titer-corrected equivalents and sequentially pooling these volumes according to their corrected contribution. Distributional analysis revealed right-skewed, heavy-tailed patterns better approximated by a log-normal model than by a strict Pareto (power-law) form, with approximately 20–3...

Resolving the tribal classification of Lechia Żabka, 1985 (Araneae: Salticidae) using UCE phylogenomics and morphology

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Resolving the tribal classification of Lechia Żabka, 1985 (Araneae: Salticidae) using UCE phylogenomics and morphology

Understanding shallow-level relationships within the Tree of Life is essential for resolving taxonomic uncertainties and elucidating evolutionary processes. Despite significant advances in the deep-level phylogenetics of jumping spiders, many shallow-level relationships remain poorly understood, as exemplified by the widespread Southeast Asian genus Lechia Żabka, 1985. The phylogenetic placement of this genus is uncertain, compounded by the lack of a formal male description for its type species, Lechia squamata Żabka, 1985. In this study, we present the first formal description of the male of L. squamata, improving the morphological diagnosis of this genus and leading to the proposal of two new synonyms: Phintelloides manipur Caleb, 2020 syn. nov. and P. scandens Deeleman-Reinhold, Addink & Miller, 2024 syn. nov. To clarify the phylogenetic placement of Lechia, we reconstructed phylogenies using both phylogenomic (ultraconserved elements, UCE) and Sanger datasets. The UCE phylogeny provided well-supported backbone relationships, while the Sanger dataset maximized the taxonomic coverage of Lechia and related genera by integrating COI and 28S sequences extracted in silico from the UCE data with available GenBank sequences. Both phylogenetic and comparative morphological evidence strongly support the placement of Lechia within the tribe Chrysillini, closely related to the genera Phintelloides Kanesharatnam & Benjamin, 2019 and Proszynskia Kanesharatnam & Benjamin, 2019. Furthermore, our analyses validate the placement of Heliophanoides and Nandicius within Chrysillini, corroborating previous morphology-based classifications.

Yang Z, Zhang F, Yu K, Zhang J. Resolving the tribal classification of Lechia Żabka, 1985 (Araneae: Salticidae) using UCE phylogenomics and morphology. Invertebrate Systematics 2026; IS25076. https://doi.org/10.1071/IS25076