Abstract
Aim We test the hypothesis that the opening of the Western Mediterranean basin drove the diversification of the trap‐door spider genus Ummidia by reconstructing the phylogeny and inferring a temporal framework of diversification. Additionally, we assess niche interchangeability of three Ummidia species to test the role of dispersal in shaping their present‐day distribution. Location Western Mediterranean, encompassing the known distribution range of Ummidia on the Iberian Peninsula and Northern Africa. Methods We use multi‐locus data and employ both gene concatenation and coalescent species‐tree approaches in phylogenetic reconstruction and Bayesian divergence estimation. Species distribution modelling is used to assess the ecological preferences of three species and evaluate ecological interchangeability. Results The diversification time frame inferred for the basal split of Ummidia and subsequent diversification correlates with the tectonic movements involved in the phases of the opening of the Western Mediterranean. The basal split (24 Ma) correlates with the opening of the Valencia Trough, the split of the Maghrebian clade (16.54 Ma) with the separation of the Kabylies and Betic‐Rif blocks. A back‐colonization of the Iberian Peninsula from northern Africa was detected, presumably occurring via land bridges during the Messinian salinity crisis. The environmental preferences of Ummidia species indicate that U. algarve and adjacent Ummidia sp. ‘Tarifa’ are ecologically interchangeable. Main conclusions Tectonic movements involved in the opening of the Western Mediterranean shaped the distribution and diversity of extant Mediterranean Ummidia lineages. Despite the putative ability of Ummidia for airborne dispersal, observed phylogeographical patterns and isolation of ecologically interchangeable and geographically proximate species indicate that long‐distance dispersal events are rare and the present‐day distribution may be due to vicariant events driven by drifting microplates. Finally, several additional evolutionary independent lineages that may correspond to putative new species were detected.