ArticleSystematic biology2026
The Complex Interplay between Evolutionary Flexibility and Diversification in a Family of Spiders.
Article in Systematic biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Understanding the mechanisms of how morphological traits drive speciation and contribute to species richness is pivotal in evolutionary biology. In this context, the evolutionary flexibility of morphological traits may play a significant role. Using the diverse daddy long-legs spiders, Pholcidae, which currently includes some 2000 described species, we explored the interplay between speciation rate, trait evolution rate, microhabitat shift rate, species richness, interspecific variability of body size, leg length, relative leg length, and leg proportions. We applied a combination of large-scale genomic and taxonomic sampling, and phylogenetic and comparative analyses to assess the dynamics of diversification and evolutionary flexibility (measured as either the standard variance or disparity of traits), as well as their interactions. We found that increased evolutionary flexibility is accompanied with accelerated rates in speciation and trait evolution, and with higher species richness. We also observed near-isometry of leg length and body size in the species-rich lineages, suggesting stabilizing selection, whereas positive allometry in the species-poor lineages indicates directional selection. Additionally, we found a positive correlation between trait evolution rates and microhabitat shifts. We argue that environmental heterogeneity and frequent microhabitat shifts may contribute to the origin and maintenance of evolutionary flexibility, which in turn influences the organisms' ability to exploit new resources and habitats. On the other hand, our study suggests that a lack of evolutionary flexibility (e.g., due to dwarfism or gigantism) could be an evolutionary dead end. This study enhances our understanding of the mechanisms of diversification, demonstrating that evolutionary flexibility of morphological traits may vary among closely related taxa and is likely to have contributed to the uneven distribution of biodiversity across the tree of life.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.