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Diversification drivers in golden orbweavers
We explored macroevolutionary trends and factors influencing heterogeneity in species diversity within golden orbweaver spiders....
Apr 30, 2021


Genetic architecture of behaviors in a spider
The existence of consistent individual differences in behavior has been shown in a number of species, and several studies have found...
Mar 26, 2021


Body Size, Not Personality, Explains Male Mating Success in a Widow Spider
The role of personality in sexual selection has mostly been investigated on vertebrate species, in which males provide direct benefits to...
Mar 3, 2021

Call for Dolomedes material and collaboration
2 February 2021 Dear colleagues, We have started a research programme into the phylogeny, systematics, and biogeography of Dolomedes....
Feb 2, 2021


Phylogenomic, Biogeographic, and Evolutionary Research Trends in Arachnology
Guest Editor: Dr. Matjaž Kuntner Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research, National Institute of Biology, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia...
Feb 2, 2021


SSD-Media coverage
Sexual size dimorphism is a phenomenon where one sex is considerably larger than the other sex of the same species. Darwin himself...
Oct 28, 2020

Machine learning predicts species richness
Why is species richness of taxonomically comparable groups of organisms so different? Can we discover the factors that best predict and...
Aug 31, 2020


Novi pogledi na razlike v biodiverziteti
Biotska raznovrstnost oziroma biodiverziteta opisuje stopnjo raznolikosti oblik življenja v nekem okolju. Čeprav gre za razmeroma nov ...
Aug 27, 2020


Biogeography of the globally distributed Argiope trifasciata
We investigated the biogeographical structure of the banded garden spider Argiope trifasciata, which occurs on six continents across...
Aug 11, 2020


Spider webs as a source of eDNA
New EZ preprint. Interesting new topic - spider webs as a source of eDNA! Preprint Image: Visualhunt.com
Jul 20, 2020


Matjaž Kuntner is looking for a postdoc!
Postdoctoral candidate sought in comparative transcriptomics of spider silks. Full details HERE!
Jul 13, 2020


Is foraging innovation lost following colonization of a less variable environment?
Behavioral innovation is a key process for successful colonization of new habitat types. However, it is costly due to the necessary...
May 8, 2020


A new approach to organismal biogeography
Biogeography is a science that explores the prevalence and abundance of plants and animals in space and time. It attempts to ...
Apr 19, 2020


Congratulations dr. Quiñones-Lebrón!
Despite these unusual times, life in arachnology does not stop. On Friday, Shakira Quiñones-Lebrón, a PhD candidate in our lab,...
Apr 19, 2020


Genetic variances and cross‐sex genetic correlations in spider personalities
In a new publication, we assess genetic variances and cross‐sex genetic correlations of two personality traits, aggression and activity,...
Aug 23, 2019


Transcriptome of Darwin’s bark spider silk glands predicts tougher silk
Darwin's bark spider builds the largest webs made of the toughest silk. We now highlight a novel silk gene transcript and unusually long...
Jul 25, 2019


Spider Welfare
Spiders with around 48,000 recorded species are major terrestrial predators and thus crucially important for ecosystem functioning. They...
Jul 8, 2019


The Geography of Slovenia
This is an unusual publication for EZ lab - a chapter about biodiversity of Slovenia in general. Link
Jul 8, 2019

Entelegyne spider reproduction system needs redefinition
Our understanding of spider reproductive biology is hampered by the vast anatomical diversity and difficulties associated with its study....
Jul 7, 2019


Smaller male spiders are not faster climbers
Among terrestrial animals, spiders exhibit the most extreme cases of difference in size between males and females. Female spiders are...
May 28, 2019
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