First Molecular Data for the Genus Kovalius (Opiliones: Sclerosomatidae: Leiobuninae) and their Phylogenetic Relationships

Kovalius (Opiliones: Sclerosomatidae: Leiobuninae) is a small genus of harvestmen described by Tchemeris, 2023. The first description of Kovalius logunovi was made from Russia and it was subsequently recorded from Türkiye on the basis of the morphological data. The use of morphological data alone for the identification of taxa and determination of their relationships may lead to limitations and difficulties in some cases. As a result, the use of molecular data in addition to the morphological data in the identification of new taxa and determination of phylogenetic relationships increases the reliability of studies. In this study, the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene region of the Kovalius logunovi species was examined for the first time and a sequence of approximately 408 bp was obtained. Based on these data, the phylogenetic relationships of the species with similar species were revealed.