Representation of Aphonopelma burrows in different habitats across the United States. Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains) D grass/oak foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Mariposa Co., California E Zion National Park, Utah F Chihuahuan Desert below the Chiricahua Mountains in Cochise Co., Arizona G Sonoran Desert in Pinal Co., Arizona H Mojave Desert in San Bernardino Co., California I Tamaulipan thornscrub in Starr Co., Texas.

A grassland prairie, Otero Co., Colorado B high-elevation pine/conifer in Coconino Co., Arizona C mid-elevation oak woodland throughout the вЂњsky islandsвЂќ of southeastern Arizona (e.g. 126) even declaring the group a вЂњnomenclatural and taxonomic nightmareвЂќ. Not surprisingly, many arachnologists have expressed dismay toward the present state of theraphosid taxonomy ( Raven 1985, Smith 1995, PГ©rez-Miles et al. Perceived high diversity, complicated biogeography, morphological homogeneity between closely related taxa, and considerable variation within nominal species have posed significant problems for species delimitation ( Prentice 1997) and higher-level classification ( Raven 1985) in tarantulas. Some species thrive in harsh environments, including hot and arid regions near Death Valley (California, USA), or in more temperate high-elevation forests along the Mogollon Rim and Madrean Archipelago (Arizona, USA) (Fig.

Most Aphonopelma live in silk-lined subterranean burrows and are found in nearly every habitat throughout their distribution (Fig. 2011), can be found across a wide range of physical and climatic conditions. The North American species of Aphonopelma, proposed to have rapidly diversified following expansion and adaptation into arid and desert environments ~5 Ma ( Hamilton et al. 2011).Дistributed across two major biogeographic realms (Nearctic and Neotropical), Aphonopelma species are distributed across the southern third of the United States, ranging west of the Mississippi River to California and south through Mexico and Central America (Fig. Generally, morphological approaches to species delimitation in groups with similar patterns of homoplasy or morphological conservatism have been shown to grossly oversimplify and underestimate diversity ( Locke et al. Furthermore, quantitative or meristic features often used to evaluate relationships among mygalomorphs have been found to be problematic ( Bond and Beamer 2006, Hendrixson and Bond 2009, but see Goloboff et al.

Morphology-based phylogenies of mygalomorph spiders have revealed widespread patterns of homoplasy among traditional taxonomic characters ( Raven 1985, Goloboff 1993, Bond and Opell 2002, Hedin and Bond 2006, Bond and Hedin 2006, Hendrixson and Bond 2009, Bond et al. The goal of this partial revision is to formally resolve the groupвЂ™s species-level diversity by implementing an integrative approach to species delimitation that considers genomic, morphological, ecological, and geospatial data. In the past 75 years, only four significant descriptive or revisionary works have examined the taxonomy and range of morphological character variation of Aphonopelma in the United States ( Chamberlin and Ivie 1939, Chamberlin 1940, Smith 1995, Prentice 1997), none of which employed an explicit phylogenetic approach. Despite their systematic appeal stemming from their diversity and charismatic nature as hairy, large-bodied spiders, the systematics and taxonomy of Aphonopelma have remained problematic. Residing within this group is the most species-rich lineage of tarantulas, the genus Aphonopelma, with 87 nominal species distributed throughout North and Central America, 55 of which are thought to occur in the United States ( World Spider Catalog 2015). The family Theraphosidae (tarantulas, baboon spiders, earth tigers) is the most diverse lineage ( World Spider Catalog 2015) of spiders placed in the infraorder Mygalomorphae ( Raven 1985, Hedin and Bond 2006, Bond et al.

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