Research Interests

The origin, diversification and maintenance of biodiversity is strikingly uneven across space and time. A staggering megadiversity of some lineages over other disparately microdiverse groups pose a fundamental question– what makes a lineage asymmetrically diverse than its close relatives on a changing planet? Our Biodiversity Genomics & Evolution (BiomE) lab explores the genetic underpinnings and consequences of asymmetric diversity, with a speci?c focus on the megadiversity within the arthropod group Chelicerata. This group includes arachnids (spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, solifuges, etc.), horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. We use genomic, museomic, computational and experimental approaches to reconstruct their evolutionary relationships, diversification dynamics and the evolution of novel traits or key innovations (traits that facilitate radiation by entering new adaptive zone) leading to an evolutionary advantage. In addition to macroevolutionary research, we capitalize on our location on the Deccan plateau to explore the evolutionary history of unchartered arachnid lineages. We envision a biodiversity observatory for these groups digitized using machine learning and classical natural history collections. More details of our research are posted on the lab website

Selected Publications

Siddharth Kulkarni*, Benjamin Klementz, Prashant Sharma (2025). A chromosome-level genome of the giant vinegaroon Mastigoproctus giganteus exhibits the signature of pre-Silurian whole genome duplication. Journal of Heredity esae074.

Siddharth Kulkarni*, Takeshi Yamasaki, Luong Thi Hong Phung, Nanguei Karuaera, Savel R. Daniels, Efrat Gavish-Regev, Prashant P. Sharma. (2024) Phylogenomic data reveal three new families of poorly studied Solifugae (camel spiders). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 191:107989.

Siddharth Kulkarni*, Hugh Steiner, Erika Garcia, Hernán Iuri, Ryan Jones, Jesus Ballesteros, Guilherme Gainett, Matthew R Graham, Danilo Harms, Robin Lyle, Andrés A Ojanguren-Affilastro, Carlos E Santibañez- López, Gustavo Silva de Miranda, Paula E Cushing, Efrat Gavish-Regev and Prashant P Sharma. (2023) Neglected no longer: Phylogenomic resolution of higher-level relationships in Solifugae. iScience 26 (9): 107684.

Siddharth Kulkarni*, Hannah Wood, Gustavo Hormiga. (2023) Advances in the reconstruction of the Spider Tree of Life: a roadmap for spider systematics and comparative studies. Cladistics 39: 479–532.

Siddharth Kulkarni*, Hannah Wood, Michael Lloyd, Gustavo Hormiga (2020) Spider-speci?c probe set for ultraconserved elements offers new perspectives on the evolutionary history of spiders (Arachnida, Araneae). Molecular Ecology Resources 20:185-203.