Hedin Lab @ SDSU

Arachnids • Species Delimitation • Evolution in Caves • Mygalomorph Spiders • Phylogeography • California • Opiliones • Phylogenomics •  Appalachian Mountains • Taxonomy • Next-Generation Sequencing • Conservation Prioritization

We are part of the Evolutionary Biology group in the Department of Biology at San Diego State University. Our research activities span many themes within the general realm of Systematic Biology. We focus our studies on arachnids, with particular emphasis on mygalomorph spiders and Opiliones (harvestmen). Species discovery, delimitation & description is important to us – although the biological world is amazingly diverse, most biodiversity remains undiscovered and undescribed. We spend a considerable amount of time conducting fieldwork – the western US and Appalachian mountains are hotspots for our research efforts. Cave arachnids interest us!  In the lab we strive to be integrative, but our strength lies in molecular phylogeography and phylogenomics.