• 
  • Containing Groups
  • Troguloidea
  • Dyspnoi
  • Opiliones
  • Arachnida
  • Arthropoda
  • Bilateria
  • Animals
  • Eukaryotes
  • Life on Earth
• 
  • Other Troguloidea
  • Trogulidae
  • Dicranolasma
  • Nemastomatidae
  • Nipponopsalis
• 

This tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.

The root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.

You can click on the root to travel down the Tree of Life all the way to the root of all Life, and you can click on the names of descendent subgroups to travel up the Tree of Life all the way to individual species.

For more information on ToL tree formatting, please seeInterpreting the Tree or Classification. To learn more about phylogenetic trees, please visit ourPhylogenetic Biology pages.

The tree is derived from interrelationships proposed by Gruber (1998) based on morphology.

Introduction

The monotypic Dicranolasmatidae comprise currently 16 species in the Western Palearctic with center of distribution in Italy, the Balkan Peninsula and to the Caucasus and Iran in the East. They are unmistakable given their bifurcate head cap covering the chelicerae with the eyes situated in the middle of the individual branches. Body form is globular in contrast to the similar but predominantly flat Trogulidae and the number of tarsal segments are increased in comparison. They exhibit advanced soil crypsis, gluing large amounts of soil to their integument and fixed by elongated papillae, that accumulates to sometimes half the body height.

Taxonomy and Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

Dicranolasma is monophyletic and close sister to Trogulidae in all studies (e.g. Giribet et al. 2010; Schönhofer and Martens 2010) but seems to have an intermediate position between Trogulidae and Nemastomatidae, which is also apparent in the transient morphology (e.g. body form, head cap, soil crypsis, clavate hairs on palps, high count of tarsal segments). Genital morphological differences to Trogulidae are minor when compared to the diversity within the Nemastomatidae. Species delineation and relationships within the genus have been studied by Gruber (1974, 1998). In the widespreadDicranolasma soerenseni andD. opilionoides further cryptic species are to be expected, as is likely true for the still underexplored Asian distribution of the genus.

Ecology and Life History

Dicranolasma inhabits humid well structured soil habitats, often in combination with calcareous bedrock that is sheltered by forest. Adults can be found year-round. Many species enter caves frequently, yet cave adaption seems absent. Prey specialization on snails inDicranolasma scabrum has been reported and is likely the case throughout the genus.

Other Names forDicranolasmaSoerensen 1873

• DicranolasmatidaeSimon 1879

References

Giribet, G., Vogt, L., Pérez-González, A., Sharma, P. and A. B. Kury. 2010. A multilocus approach to harvestman (Arachnida: Opiliones) phylogeny with emphasis on biogeography and the systematics of Laniatores. Cladistics 26:408-437.

Gruber, J. 1974. Ein Beitrag zur Systematik, Morphologie und Bionomie der Gattung Dicranolasma SØRENSEN (Arachnida: Opiliones). Dissertation philosophische Fakultät, Wien (unpublished).

Gruber, J. 1998. Beiträge zur Systematik der Gattung Dicranolasma (Arachnida: Opiliones, Dicranolasmatidae). I. Dicranolasma thracium STAREGA und verwandte Formen aus Südosteuropa und Südwestasien. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 100B:489-537.

Schönhofer, A. L. and J. Martens. 2010. Hidden Mediterranean diversity: Assessing species taxa by molecular phylogeny within the opilionid family Trogulidae (Arachnida, Opiliones). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54(1):59-75.

Title Illustrations

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Scientific Name	Dicranolasma pauper
Specimen Condition	Live Specimen
Identified By	Axel Schoenhofer
Life Cycle Stage	adult
Copyright	© 2011Axel Schönhofer

Scientific Name	Dicranolasma pauper
Specimen Condition	Live Specimen
Identified By	Axel Schoenhofer
Life Cycle Stage	adult
Copyright	© 2011Axel Schönhofer

Scientific Name	Dicranolasma pauper
Specimen Condition	Live Specimen
Identified By	Axel Schoenhofer
Life Cycle Stage	adult
Copyright	© 2011Axel Schönhofer

About This Page

Axel Schönhofer
San Diego States University, San Diego, California, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Axel Schönhofer at

Page copyright © 2012Axel Schönhofer

• First online 08 July 2012
• Content changed 08 July 2012

This page is aTree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between abranch and aleaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at theStructure of the Tree of Life page.

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