ABSTRACT
The modern geographic distribution of the spider family Sicariidae is consistent with an evolutionary origin on Western Gondwana. Both sicariid genera, Loxosceles and Sicarius are diverse in Africa and South/Central America. Loxosceles are also diverse in North America and the West Indies, and have species described from Mediterranean Europe and China. We tested vicariance hypotheses using molecular phylogenetics and molecular dating analyses of 28S, COI, 16S, and NADHI sequences. We recover reciprocal monophyly of African and South American Sicarius, paraphyletic Southern African Loxosceles and monophyletic New World Loxosceles within which an Old World species group that includes L. rufescens is derived. These patterns are consistent with a sicariid common ancestor on Western Gondwana. North American Loxosceles are monophyletic, sister to Caribbean taxa, and resolved in a larger clade with South American Loxosceles. With fossil data this pattern is consistent with colonization of North America via a land bridge predating the modern Isthmus of Panama.
