The objectives of this research are threefold: (1) to use cladistic data to delimit areas of endemism in and reconstruct the biogeographic history of the cool-temperate afromontane rain forest biota in Africa and Madagascar; (2) to revise and provide cladistic analyses for several spider taxa occurring in Africa and Madagascar likely to contribute to (1), and (3) to contribute to the higher classification of the spider superfamilies Araneoidea, Lycosoidea, and Migoidea. The resulting area cladogram will provide information bearing upon several hypotheses regarding the age and mode of origin of patterns within the forest biota in Africa and Madagascar. Funding is requested for personnel, equipment, and travel necessary to complete revisionary studies on the Cyatholipidae, Zoropsidae, Migidae, Microstigmatidae, Amaurobiidae Phyxelidinae, and Orsolobidae. The revisions will be based upon material already in museums as well as that acquired on collecting trips to Cameroon, Madagascar, and Tanzania.
