Hypotheses for the Recent Hispaniolan spider fauna based on the Dominican Republic amber spider fauna

Abstract

The Dominican Republic amber fossil spider record is examined and hypotheses generated concerning the Recent Hispaniolan spider fauna which is, at present, poorly known. The families Cyrtaucheniidae, Microstigmatidae, Nemesiidae, Ochyroceratidae, Tetrablemmidae, Palpimanidae, Hersiliidae, Symphytognathidae s.l., Anapidae, Mysmenidae, and Hahniidae, known from the fossil, but not Recent, fauna are predicted to be components of the Recent fauna of Hispaniola. Based on a terrestrial invertebrate species longevity of less than ten million years, the presence of endemic and non-endemic species, and the assumption that Hispaniola has suffered no major ecological disruption that would cause the amber lineages to become extinct, the following hypotheses are made: Filistatidae and Desidae colonized Hispaniola after the Miocene amber formation; Drymusidae, Amaurobiidae, and Deinopidae were present on Hispaniola during the Tertiary, but avoided capture, or have yet to be found in the amber; and Scytodidae, Oecobiidae, Uloboridae, Dictynidae and Clubionidae have colonized Hispaniola since the Miocene amber formation but these families, which were present on Hispaniola during the period of amber formation, contain undiscovered endemic species.