The History of Cytogenetic Investigations of Spiders in Turkey

Spiders are an ancient group of animals that probably originated in the Devonian period about 400 million years ago. Over time, they have adapted to major changes in climate and fauna and have become widespread on all continents, living in almost any terrestrial habitat. It is known that approximately 50000 spider species belonging to 120 families worldwide, today. and this number increases almost every day due to new records are being given from many countries. Despite the high diversity of species, the number of cytogenetic studies on spiders is very scarce. Upto now, 868 species belonging to the 74 families were investigated by cytogenetically. Although more than a thousand species of spiders in Turkey, the Cytogenetic studies are insufficient. Thus, spiders are the most richest group of arachnids among arthropods. In this study cytogenetic studies on spiders in Turkey were reviewed.