Matthew R Graham

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Verified

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• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Eastern Connecticut State University

Aim Phylogeographical studies in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts often find genetic discontinuities that pre‐date the Pleistocene. A recent synthesis of phylogeographical data, called the Mojave Assembly Model, provides a hypothesis for the historical assembly of these desert biotas but does not adequately capture the complexity of pre‐Pleistocene v...

Montane species endemic to the ‘sky islands’ of the North American southwest were significantly impacted by changing climates during the Pleistocene. We combined mitochondrial and genomic data with species distribution modeling to determine whether Aphonopelma marxi, a large tarantula from the nearby Colorado Plateau, was similarly impacted by glac...

Recent syntheses of phylogeographical data from terrestrial animals in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts have revealed a complex history of geologic and climatic vicariance events. We studied the phylogeography of Smeringurus vachoni to see how vicariance events may have impacted a large, endemic rock scorpion. Additionally, we used the phylogeographi...

Aim To review the histories of the Colorado River and North American monsoon system to ascertain their effects on the genetic divergence of desert‐adapted animals. Location Lower Colorado River region, including Mojave and Sonoran deserts, United States. Methods We synthesized recent geological literature to summarize initiation phases of lower C...

The Southern Appalachians and adjacent provinces of the southeastern USA are geologically and biologically diverse, with high levels of endemism. Phylogeographic analyses indicate that animals with small distributions in these regions often contain cryptic diversity and that Pleistocene climate fluctuations had significant impacts on their distribu...

Background The genus Solanum is a diverse group of flowering plants with significant economic importance. Within this genus, the subgenus Leptostemonum, comprising spiny solanums, is particularly noteworthy due to its high species diversity and endemism. Solanum ensifolium, a member of this subgenus, is a critically endangered species endemic to Pu...

Scorpion toxins are relatively short cyclic peptides (<150 amino acids) that can disrupt the opening/closing mechanisms in cell ion channels. These peptides are widely studied for several reasons including their use in drug discovery. Although improvements in RNAseq have greatly expedited the discovery of new scorpion toxins, their annotation remai...

Over 400 million years old, scorpions represent an ancient group of arachnids and one of the first animals to adapt to life on land. Presently, the lack of available genomes within scorpions hinders research on their evolution. This study leverages ultralong nanopore sequencing and Pore-C to generate the first chromosome-level assembly and annotati...

While originally intending to explore the venom gland microbiome of the desert hairy scorpion Hadrurus arizonensis Ewing, 1928, nanopore sequencing serendipitously recovered complete mitochondrial genomes for this iconic arachnid. Phylogenetic analysis of these high-quality genomes places Hadrurus as sister to Uroctonus, in agreement with some phyl...

Over 400 million years old, scorpions represent an ancient group of arachnids and one of the first animals to adapt to life on land. Presently, the lack of available genomes within scorpions hinders research on their evolution. This study leverages ultra-long nanopore sequencing and Pore-C to generate the first chromosome level assembly and annotat...

The genus 𝑂𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑠 Farzanpay, 1987 in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, is revised based on recently collected topotypes and other populations from 12 localities. Brief differential diagnoses are provided, with colored illustrations and photos in vivo habitus, emphasizing the key characters. Chinese appellations, conservation status, and do...

Although many studies have examined how taxa responded to Pleistocene climate fluctuations in the Appalachian Mountains, impacts on high-elevation endemics of Central Appalachia are not yet understood. We use mitochondrial (ND4 & Cytb) and nuclear (GAPD) DNA sequences to investigate the phylogeography of the Cow Knob Salamander ( Plethodon punctatu...

Advanced sequencing technologies have expedited resolving higher-level arthropod relationships. Yet, dark branches persist, principally among groups occurring in cryptic habitats. Among chelicerates, Solifugae (“camel spiders”) is the last order lacking a higher-level phylogeny and thus, historically characterized as “neglected [arachnid] cousins”....

Scorpions are ancient and historically renowned for their potent venom. Traditionally, the systematics of this group of arthro-pods was supported by morphological characters, until recent phylogenomic analyses (using RNAseq data) revealed most of the higher-level taxa to be non-monophyletic. While these phylogenomic hypotheses are stable for almost...

Scorpions represent an ancient lineage of arachnids that have radiated across the globe and are incredibly resilient—since some thrive in harsh environments and can exist on minimal and intermittent feedings. Given the emerging importance of microbiomes to an organism’s health, it is intriguing to suggest that the long-term success of the scorpion...

Considerable progress has been achieved in resolving higher-level relationships of Arthropoda in the past two decades, largely precipitated by advances in sequencing technology. Yet, dark branches persist in the arthropod tree of life, principally among groups that are difficult to collect, occur in cryptic habitats, or are characterized by minute...

Venom from Amazonian scorpions of the genus Tityus contains components capable of eliciting a distinct clinical, mostly neurological, syndrome. This contrasts with the mainly autonomic manifestations produced after envenomation by congeneric southern and northern South American species. Herein, we summarize Pan-Amazonian scorpionism by synthesizing...

Species of camel spiders in the family Eremobatidae are an important component of arthropod communities in arid ecosystems throughout North America. Recently, research demonstrated that the evolutionary history and biogeography of the family are poorly understood. Herein we explore the biogeographic history of this group of arachnids using genome-w...

Following Graham et al. (2019), the recently described desert species Olivierus gorelovi (Fet et al., 2018) from Central Asia is herein restricted to Turkmenistan and southern Uzbekistan. In this contribution, we described other populations formerly included in O. gorelovi as three new species: O. mikhailovi sp. n. (southern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan)...

A new montane species of Vaejovis C.L. Koch (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae) is described from the Sierra Madre Occidental of Durango, Mexico. Vaejovis baggins Azzinnari, Bryson, Graham, Solís-Rojas, and Sissom, new species,is similar to mexicanus group species in the mountain range, including V. montanus Graham and Bryson, V. sierrae Sissom, Graham, Donal...

Phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary patterns within the arachnid order Solifugae are poorly understood and largely unresolved due to conserved morphology and scarce genomic resources. In this study, we evaluated the role of restriction endonuclease (RE) selection in double-digest restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing (ddRADseq) as a me...

Envenoming by scorpions in genus Tityus is a public health problem in Tropical America. One of the most medically significant species is Tityus trivittatus, which is known to occur from southwest Brazil to central-northern and eastern Argentina. In this work, we studied the lethality, composition, antigenicity, and enzymatic activity of venom from...

Scorpions of the Neotropical genus Tityus are responsible for most severe envenomations in the Caribbean, South America, and Lower Central America (LCA). Although Tityus is taxonomically complex, contains high toxin polymorphism, and produces variable clinical manifestations, treatment is limited to antivenoms produced against species with restrict...

Scorpion toxins are thought to have originated from ancestral housekeeping genes that underwent diversification and neofunctionalization, as a result of positive selection. Our understanding of the evolutionary origin of these peptides is hindered by the patchiness of existing taxonomic sampling. While recent studies have shown phylogenetic inertia...

Research progress on the order Solifugae, commonly known as camel spiders, has been hindered by challenges inherent in collecting these fast-moving, nocturnal predators. Recently, pitfall trapping combined with artificial light lures showed promise for improving capture rates, but the hypothesis that camel spiders are attracted to light traps (posi...

Little is known about species diversification within the deserts of Central Asia. For example, the degree of lineage divergence and timing of population differentiation, as well as potential biogeographic barriers driving diversification, are nearly unknown. Here, we analysed a multi‐locus data set for a widespread sand scorpion (Mesobuthus gorelov...

Morphologically conserved taxa such as scorpions represent a challenge to delimit. We recently discovered populations of scorpions in the genus Kovarikia Soleglad, Fet & Graham, 2014 on two isolated mountain ranges in southern California. We generated genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism data and used Bayes factors species delimitation to com...

A widespread Mesobuthus caucasicus complex, which includes some of the most common scorpions found from the Caucasus to China, is revised for the first time based on new extensive collections from Central Asia, using both morphological and DNA marker data. Mesobuthus caucasicus (Nordmann, 1840), s.str. is restricted to the Caucasus Mts. Four taxa a...

Genus Catalinia, gen. nov. (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae) is described from southern California, USA and Baja California, Mexico. The genus is composed of four species formerly placed in Pseudouroctonus: Catalinia minima (Kraepelin, 1911), comb. nov. (type species), C. andreas (Gertsch et Soleglad, 1972), comb. nov., C. castanea (Gertsch et Soleglad, 197...

Scorpion envenoming by species in the genus Tityus is hereby reported from rural locations in the Amazonian province of Morona Santiago, southeastern Ecuador. Twenty envenoming cases (18 patients under 15 years of age) including one death (a 4-year-old male) were recorded at the Macas General Hospital, Morona Santiago, between January 2015 and Dece...

Genus Graemeloweus, gen. nov. (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae) is described from northern California, USA. The genus is composed of three species formerly placed in Pseudouroctonus: Graemeloweus iviei (Gertsch et Soleglad, 1972), comb. nov. (type species), G. glimmei (Hjelle, 1972), comb. nov., and G. maidu (Savary et Bryson, 2016), comb. nov. Major diagno...

The Anatolian fauna of the genus Euscorpius (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae) is in the process of reassessment. Twelve species of this genus are currently recognized for Anatolia, of which seven have been recently described on the basis of morphology. We demonstrate additional cryptic diversity in Anatolian Euscorpius by applying molecular markers (mitoc...

This chapter assesses the phylogenetic relationships between scorpions and sodium channel-active scorpion toxins (NaScTx) of medical significance, almost entirely contained within the family Buthidae, with the exception of Hemiscorpius lepturus (Hemiscorpiidae). Within Buthidae, venom capable of severe and lethal scorpionism appears to have evolved...

Two new species of the mexicanus group of Vaejovis C.L. Koch are described from the Madrean pine-oak forests of the Sierra Madre Occidental in the state of Durango, Mexico. These species, Vaejovis sierrae sp. nov. and Vaejovis mcwesti sp. nov., are distinguished from each other and the only other species of the mexicanus group known from this mount...

Two new species of Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (subgenus Euscorpius s. str.) (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae) are described based on morphology and the COI DNA barcoding marker: E. deltshevi sp. n. from northern Bulgaria and neighbouring Serbia (formerly reported as E. carpathicus) and E. solegladi sp. n. from southwestern Bulgaria and neighbouring Greece (...

This chapter assesses the phylogenetic relationships between scorpions and sodium channel-active scorpion toxins (NaScTx) of medical significance, almost entirely contained within the family Buthidae, with the exception of Hemiscorpius lepturus (Hemiscorpiidae). Within Buthidae, venom capable of severe and lethal scorpionism appears to have evolved...

The biota of the Baja California peninsula (BCP) assembled in response to a complex history of Neogene tectonics and Quaternary climates. We constructed species distribution models (SDMs) for 13 scorpion species from the BCP to compare current suitable habitat with that at the latest glacial maximum about 21 000 years ago. Using these SDMs, we mode...

Two new species of Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (subgenus Euscorpius s.str.) (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae) are described based on morphology and the COI DNA barcoding marker: E. deltshevi sp. n. from northern Bulgaria and neighbouring Serbia (formerly reported as E. carpathicus) and E. solegladi sp. n. from southwestern Bulgaria and neighbouring Greece (f...

A new scorpion species is described from the Spring Mountain Range near Las Vegas, Nevada. The new species appears to be geographically isolated from other closely related species of Uroctonites Williams & Savaryand Pseudouroctonus Stahnke. We tentatively place the new species in Pseudouroctonus and provide detailed descriptions and illustrations o...

Arizona bark scorpions (Centruroides sculpturatus Ewing) are commonly found throughout the Sonoran Desert in southwestern North America, and they are well known for being the most venomous scorpion in the United States. Despite their medical significance, C. sculpturatus remains ecologically understudied, and little is known regarding its natural f...

As data accumulate, a multi-taxon biogeographical synthesis of the Mojave Desert is beginning to emerge. The initial synthesis, which we call the ‘Mojave Assembly Model’, was predominantly based on comparisons of phylogeographical patterns from vertebrate taxa. We tested the predictions of this model by examining the phylogeographical history of Ha...

The age of lineages has become a fundamental datum in studies exploring the interaction between geological transformation and biotic diversification. However, phylogeographical studies are often biased towards lineages that are younger than the geological features of the landscapes they inhabit. A temporally deeper historical biogeography framework...

Chronograms with estimated divergence times (in millions of years, Ma) for scorpions in the Vaejovis vorhiesi group. Estimates are shown for multilocus species tree (top) and mtDNA gene tree (bottom) analyses. Posterior probability support values for nodes are indicated by coded dots explained in the figure legend. Nodes that received <0.50 support...

Scorpion-specific mtDNA primers used in study on the Vaejovis vorhiesi group. (DOC)

Three gene trees for scorpions in the Vaejovis vorhiesi group embedded within the shared species tree. Strongly supported nodes (≥0.95 posterior probability support) are indicated with black dots. (PDF)

Multivariate analyses of morphological characters provide strong evidence that a highland Vaejovis from the Sierra de los Ajos, a Madrean 'sky island' in northern Sonora, Mexico, represents a distinct new species of the V. vorhiesi group. This new species is described and compared to other geographically adjacent species of the V. vorhiesi group, n...

We used a DNA barcoding marker (mitochondrial cox1) to investigate the controversial natural occurrence of Euscorpius sicanus (C.L. Koch) in North Africa. We tested this hypothesis by comparing a sample collected from a mountain in Tunisia to disjunct populations in Sardinia, Malta, and Greece. Using these samples, and a few additional Euscorpius s...

A new scorpion species is described from the Inyo Mountains of California (USA). The presence of a strong subaculear spine, along with other characters, places the new species within Wernerius, an incredibly rare genus that until now consisted of only two species. Wernerius inyoensis sp. n. can be most easily distinguished from the other members of...

Although only distantly related, Anomalobuthus and Liobuthus are monotypic and sympatric scorpion genera with psammophilic phenotypes well-suited to the dune communities of the Karakum and Kyzylkum deserts of Central Asia. We predicted that this unique combination of phenotypic convergence and sympatry should have resulted in shared phylogeographic...

: The taxonomic identity of Euscorpius germanus croaticus Di Caporiacco, 1950, described from Croatia and Bosnia, has remained unclear ever since its discovery. We studied the lectotype from the Velebit Mountains as well as new material from Biserujka Cave on Krk Island, Croatia. We reassessed E. g. croaticus using both morphology and DNA barcodes...

Aim To test how Pleistocene climatic changes affected diversification of the Crotalus intermedius species complex. Location Highlands of Mexico and the south-western United States (Arizona). Methods We synthesize the matrilineal genealogy based on 2406 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA sequences, fossil-calibrated molecular dating, reconstruction of...

As currently understood, there are two species of foxsnakes (Eastern Foxsnake, Pantherophis gloydi Conant and Western Foxsnake, P. vulpinus Baird and Girard) that are separated by a large geographic disjunction that encompasses almost all of Michigan, eastern Indiana, and eastern Ohio. Phylogenetic analysis of mtDNA data of individuals from through...

A new species of montane scorpion is described from the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. The species is morphologically similar to scorpions distributed throughout the "sky island" region of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico and is a member of the "vorhiesi" subgroup of the Vaejovis "mexicanus" group. The morphology of the ne...

A new alligator lizard is described from the Chihuahuan Desert in southwestern Tamaulipas, Mexico. This lizard appears to be most closely related to the smooth-scaled, relatively small-bodied alligator lizards Gerrhonotus lugoi, from the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin of central Coahuila, and G. parvus, from the central part of Nuevo León, but differs from...

Two new scorpion species, Vaejovis cashi sp. nov. and V. feti sp. nov. are described and placed in the “mexicanus” group of the genus Vaejovis. These small scorpions were collected at high-elevations from the sky island archipelago of southern Arizona and New Mexico. Both new species are similar to V. vorhiesi Stahnke, a small mesic scorpion of the...

Mammalian spermatogenesis is precisely regulated by many germ cell-specific factors. In search for such a germ cell-specific factor, we have identified a novel mouse gene testis-specific factor 1 (TESF-1). Messenger RNA of TESF-1 was found only in the testis and its expression appeared to be regulated in a developmental manner. Further analysis dem...

A partial phylogeny of Cuban scorpions of the family Buthidae (four genera, 12 species) is herein presented, based on molecular data (16S rRNA mitochondrial DNA). The following results are discussed: (1) monophyly of the clades (Rhopalu- rus + Centruroides) and (Alayotityus + Tityus) was supported, while Microtityus (Parvabsonus) always formed a se...

Euscorpius is the first research publication completely devoted to scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Euscorpius takes advantage of the rapidly evolving medium of quick online publication, at the same time maintaining high research standards for the burgeoning field of scorpion science (scorpiology). Euscorpius is an expedient and viable medium for...

A peculiar array of over 1000 cuticular pits is found ventrally and laterally on the posterior segments of metasoma and telson of a few taxa of Buthidae (Scorpiones), including all species of the widespread Old World desert genus Orthochirus Karsch. SEM investigation shows those pits adorned with variable size setae, which exhibit microanatomical f...

Summary Being lungless, plethodontid salamanders respire through their skin and are especially sensitive to environmental disturbances. Habitat fragmentation, low abundance, extreme habitat requirements, and a narrow distribution of less than 70 miles in length, makes one such salamander, Plethodon punctatus, a species of concern (S1) in West Virgi...