Global distribution of microwhip scorpions (Arachnida: Palpigradi)

Abstract

Historically, research on global distribution patterns has mostly concentrated on conspicuous organisms and thus a large proportion of biodiversity on Earth re-mains unmapped. We examined the global distribution of palpigrades, a poorly stud-ied group of low dispersive arachnids specialized to subterranean life. We asked what are the ecological factors driving their distributions, and to what extent sampling bias may influence the observed patterns.