Research interests

I am an evolutionary biologist with a background in arthropod systematics and evolution with a specific focus on spiders. Recently the taxonomic scope of my work has has been gradually expanding to include more branches of the Tree of life such as vascular plants and vertebrates. In my current research I aim to understand how underlying evolutionary and ecological process generate and maintain biodiversity through time and space. To do so I work on assembling all pieces of a complex puzzle: from describing species and their evolutionary history to understanding how individuals and their genes interact with the environment and with each other. I am particularly interested in understanding what are the factors that govern the patterns of biodiversity at different spatial scales, and the responses of communities and individual species to climate change. I combine species evolutionary histories, contemporary distributional data and information on historical distributions, past and contemporary climate and other environmental factors, in an attempt to elucidate some of the primary mechanisms underlying the distribution of life on Earth.

BIO332 Phylogenetic Methods

2017

• Ward C. Wheeler; Jonathan A. Coddington; Louise M. Crowley et al. (2017). The spider tree of life: phylogeny of Araneae based on target-gene analyses from an extensive taxon sampling. (external link)
• Torsten H Struck; Jeffrey L. Feder; Mika Bendiksby et al. (2017). Finding Evolutionary Processes Hidden in Cryptic Species. (external link)
• Dimitar Dimitrov; Ligia R. Benavides; Miquel A. Arnedo et al. (2017). Rounding up the usual suspects: a standard target-gene approach for resolving the interfamilial phylogenetic relationships of ecribellate orb-weaving spiders with a new family-rank classification (Araneae, Araneoidea). (external link)
• Gustavo Hormiga; Dimitar Dimitrov (2017). The discovery of the spider genus Putaoa (Araneae, Pimoidae) in Taiwan with the description of a new species, including its web architecture. (external link)

2018

• Rosa Fernández; Robert J. Kallal; Dimitar Dimitrov et al. (2018). Phylogenomics, Diversification Dynamics, and Comparative Transcriptomics across the Spider Tree of Life. (external link)
• Jonas Eberle; Dimitar Dimitrov; Alejandro Valdez-Mondragón et al. (2018). Microhabitat change drives diversification in pholcid spiders. (external link)
• Nawal Shrestha; Zhiheng Wang; Xiangyan Su et al. (2018). Global patterns of Rhododendron diversity: The role of evolutionary time and diversification rates. (external link)
• Torsten H Struck; Jeffrey L. Feder; Mika Bendiksby et al. (2018). Cryptic Species – More Than Terminological Chaos: A Reply to Heethoff. (external link)
• Bernhard A. Huber; Jonas Eberle; Dimitar Dimitrov (2018). The phylogeny of pholcid spiders: a critical evaluation of relationships suggested by molecular data (Araneae, Pholcidae). (external link)
• Rosa Fernández; Robert J. Kallal; Dimitar Dimitrov et al. (2018). Phylogenomics, Diversification Dynamics, and Comparative Transcriptomics across the Spider Tree of Life. (external link)

2021

• José Cerca; Ellie E. Armstrong; Joel Vizueta et al. (2021). The Tetragnatha kauaiensis Genome Sheds Light on the Origins of Genomic Novelty in Spiders. (external link)
• Lian Liu; Xiaoting Xu; Lei Zhang et al. (2021). Global patterns of species richness of the holarctic alpine herb Saxifraga: the role of temperature and habitat heterogeneity. (external link)
• Gustavo Hormiga; Siddharth Kulkarni; Thiago Da Silva Moreira et al. (2021). Molecular phylogeny of pimoid spiders and the limits of Linyphiidae, with a reassessment of male palpal homologies (Araneae, Pimoidae). (external link)
• Huanhuan Xie; Yigong Tang; Jiao Fu et al. (2021). Diversity patterns and conservation gaps of Magnoliaceae species in China. (external link)
• Yujing Yan; Charles C. Davis; Dimitar Dimitrov et al. (2021). Phytogeographic History of the Tea Family Inferred through High-Resolution Phylogeny and Fossils. (external link)
• Yunyun Wang; Ao Luo; Tong Lyu et al. (2021). Global distribution and evolutionary transitions of angiosperm sexual systems. (external link)

2023

• José Pedro Cerca Monteiro De Oliveira; Darko Cotoras; Cindy G. Santander et al. (2023). Multiple paths toward repeated phenotypic evolution in the spiny-leg adaptive radiation (Tetragnatha; Hawai'i). (external link)
• Torsten H Struck; Anja Golombek; Christoph Hoesel et al. (2023). Mitochondrial Genome Evolution in Annelida—A Systematic Study on Conservative and Variable Gene Orders and the Factors Influencing its Evolution. (external link)
• Ke Jiang; Qinggang Wang; Dimitar Dimitrov et al. (2023). Evolutionary history and global angiosperm species richness–climate relationships. (external link)
• Gustavo Hormiga; Siddharth Kulkarni; Miquel A. Arnedo et al. (2023). Genitalic morphology and phylogenomic placement of the Australian spider Paraplectanoides crassipes Keyserling, 1886 (Araneae, Araneidae) with a discussion on the classification of the family Araneidae. (external link)
• Yong-Sheng Chen; Alexandra N. Muellner-Riehl; Yi Yang et al. (2023). Dispersal modes affect Rhamnaceae diversification rates in a differentiated manner. (external link)
• Yunyun Wang; Tong Lyu; Ao Luo et al. (2023). Geographic patterns in range sizes and their drivers of endemic angiosperms in China. (external link)
• Yunyun Wang; Yichun Li; Ao Luo et al. (2023). Evolutionary history and climate co-determine the geographical variation in pollination modes of angiosperms in China. (external link)
• Yunpeng Liu; Xiaoting Xu; Dimitar Dimitrov et al. (2023). An updated floristic map of the world. (external link)
• Torsten H Struck; Stian Aleksander Helsem; Dimitar Dimitrov et al. (2023). Dating the annelid tree of life. (external link)
• Dimitar Dimitrov; Xiaoting Xu; Xiangyan Su et al. (2023). Diversification of flowering plants in space and time. (external link)
• Yunyun Wang; Ao Luo; Tong Lyu et al. (2023). Global distribution and evolutionary transitions of floral symmetry in angiosperms. (external link)

2020

• Leticia M. Ochoa-Ochoa; Nancy R. Mejía-Domínguez; Julián A. Velasco et al. (2020). Dimensions of amphibian alpha diversity in the New World. (external link)
• Hongyu Cai; Lisha Lyu; Nawal Shrestha et al. (2020). Geographical patterns in phylogenetic diversity of Chinese woody plants and its application for conservation planning. (external link)
• Siddharth Kulkarni; Robert J. Kallal; Hannah Wood et al. (2020). Interrogating genomic-scale data to resolve recalcitrant nodes in the Spider Tree of Life. (external link)
• Dimitar Dimitrov; Gustavo Hormiga (2020). Spider Diversification Through Space and Time. (external link)
• Josè Cerca De Oliveira; Christian Meyer; Dave Stateczny et al. (2020). Deceleration of morphological evolution in a cryptic species complex and its link to paleontological stasis. (external link)
• Robert J. Kallal; Siddharth S Kulkarni; Dimitar Dimitrov et al. (2020). Converging on the orb: denser taxon sampling elucidates spider phylogeny and new analytical methods support repeated evolution of the orb web. (external link)
• Xiangyan Su; Nawal Shrestha; Xiaoting Xu et al. (2020). Phylogenetic conservatism and biogeographic affinity influence woody plant species richness–climate relationships in eastern Eurasia. (external link)

2025

• Ruijing Cheng; Yang Yi; Xiaohan Wang et al. (2025). PyNCBIminer: A platform for assembling phylogenetic data sets via GenBank datamining. (external link)
• Yunyun Wang; Ao Luo; Dimitar Dimitrov et al. (2025). Global biogeography and macroevolutionary patterns of angiosperm inflorescence types. (external link)
• Abel Gizaw Seid; Dimitar Dimitrov; Catherine Aloyce Masao et al. (2025). Genetic Diversity Is Not Correlated With Species Diversity: A Multispecies Study in a Continental Habitat Island System. (external link)
• SIMEON INDZHOV; VIHRA HAYNADZHIEVA; VIKTOR STŘEŠTÍK et al. (2025). We have two of them: A review of the genus Mastigusa (Araneae: Cybaeidae) in Bulgaria. (external link)
• Guanliang Meng; Lars Podsiadlowski; Dimitar Dimitrov et al. (2025). The Complex Interplay between Evolutionary Flexibility and Diversification in a Family of Spiders. (external link)
• Yunpeng Liu; John J. Wiens; Ao Luo et al. (2025). Global Patterns of Climatic Niche Evolution in Angiosperms. (external link)
• Pedro de S. Castanheira; Dimitar Dimitrov; Renner L. C. Baptista et al. (2025). Taxonomy and systematics of the Australasian gum nut orb-weaving spider genus Carepalxis (Araneae, Araneidae). (external link)

2019

• Nikolaj Scharff; Jonathan A. Coddington; Todd A. Blackledge et al. (2019). Phylogeny of the orb-weaving spider family Araneidae(Araneae: Araneoidea). (external link)
• Nana Liu; Huifeng Hu; Wenhong Ma et al. (2019). Contrasting Biogeographic Patterns of Bacterial and Archaeal Diversity in the Top- and Subsoils of Temperate Grasslands. (external link)
• Robert J. Kallal; Dimitar Dimitrov; Miquel A. Arnedo et al. (2019). Monophyly, Taxon Sampling, and the Nature of Ranks in the Classification of Orb-Weaving Spiders (Araneae: Araneoidea). (external link)
• Bjarte Henry Jordal; Steffen Roth; Dimitar Dimitrov et al. (2019). Insekter - en million suksesshistorier. (external link)
• Xiaoting Xu; Dimitar Dimitrov; Nawal Shrestha et al. (2019). A consistent species richness–climate relationship for oaks across the Northern Hemisphere. (external link)
• Yunyun Wang; Tong Lyu; Nawal Shrestha et al. (2019). Drivers of large‐scale geographical variation in sexual systems of woody plants. (external link)

2024

• Yunpeng Liu; Xiaoting Xu; Dimitar Dimitrov et al. (2024). Reply to: Reassessing data quality underlying the recently updated floristic map of the world. (external link)
• Heidi Yang; Clément Goubert; Darko D. Cotoras et al. (2024). Consistent accumulation of transposable elements in species of the Hawaiian Tetragnatha spiny-leg adaptive radiation across the archipelago chronosequence. (external link)
• Shunqiu Li; Lisha Lyu; Tong Lyu et al. (2024). Spatial pattern and ecological adaptation of heterostylous and homostylous species of Primula in China. (external link)

2015

• Xiaoting Xu; Zhiheng Wang; Dimitar Dimitrov et al. (2015). Using NCBIminer to search and download nucleotide sequences from GenBank. (external link)
• Xiaoting Xu; Dimitar Dimitrov; Carsten Rahbek et al. (2015). NCBIminer: sequences harvest from Genbank. (external link)

2022

• Ao Luo; Xiaoting Xu; Yunpeng Liu et al. (2022). Spatio-temporal patterns in the woodiness of flowering plants. (external link)
• Carles Ribera; Dimitar Stefanov Dimitrov (2022). A molecular phylogeny of the European nesticid spiders (Nesticidae, Araneae): Implications for their systematics and biogeography. (external link)
• Dimitar Dimitrov; Danilo M. Neves; Xiaoting Xu (2022). Editorial: Temporal and Large-Scale Spatial Patterns of Plant Diversity and Diversification. (external link)
• Nana Liu; Huifeng Hu; Wenhong Ma et al. (2022). Relationships Between Soil Microbial Diversities Across an Aridity Gradient in Temperate Grasslands: Soil Microbial Diversity Relationships. (external link)
• Giulio Formenti; Kathrin Theissinger; Carlos Fernandes et al. (2022). The era of reference genomes in conservation genomics. (external link)

2016

• Sergey Tarasov; Fernando Z. Vaz-de-Mello; Frank-Thorsten Krell et al. (2016). A review and phylogeny of Scarabaeine dung beetle fossils (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), with the description of two Canthochilum species from Dominican amber. (external link)
• Sergei Tarasov; Dimitar Dimitrov (2016). Multigene phylogenetic analysis redefines dung beetles relationships and classification (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). (external link)
• Abel Gizaw; Christian Brochmann; Sileshi Nemomissa et al. (2016). Colonization and diversification in the African ‘sky islands’: insights from fossil-calibrated molecular dating of Lychnis (Caryophyllaceae).. (external link)
• Jacob Heilmann-Clausen; Pietro K Maruyama; Hans Henrik Bruun et al. (2016). Citizen science data reveal ecological, historical and evolutionary factors shaping interactions between woody hosts and wood-inhabiting fungi. (external link)

2014

• Bernhard A. Huber; Dimitar Dimitrov (2014). Slow genital and genetic but rapid non-genital and ecological differentiation in a pair of spider species (Araneae, Pholcidae). (external link)

2013

• Ben G. Holt; Jean-Philippe Lessard; Michael Krabbe Borregaard et al. (2013). Response to Comment on "An Update of Wallace's Zoogeographic Regions of the World". (external link)

2026

• Huanhuan Xie; Yixi Wang; Lei Zhang et al. (2026). Why are Magnoliaceae so diverse in the tropics? Disentangling the roles of diversification and time‐for‐speciation effects. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

The list below contains the publications in CRIStin. For full list of publications and relevant metrics please visit my Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mfemh8gAAAAJ or my Researcher ID http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-9563-2009

I am currently involved in several research projects that are mainly within the following two broad research fields.

• Systematics, macroecology and macroevolution of spiders with a particular focus on orb weavers and pholcids

• Macroecology and macroevolution of seed plants

I am also part of the BiGTREE a HKdir fudded NORPART training network between Norway, Colombia and Peru