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Dimitar
S. Dimitrov Postdoctoral Researcher Systematics and Evolution of Spiders Department of Biological Sciences George Washington University 2023 G Street. NW Washington, D.C. 20052 Tel. Lab: (202) 994-0302 |
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Education: Ph.D. Zoology (2005). University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Postgraduate course "Phylogeny and Genealogy of DNA: Reconstruction and Applications" (2004). University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Diploma of Advanced Studies (2003). University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. D.S.P.U. in environmental management (1999). Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania M.A.I.C.h Chania, Greece. M.S. Biology (1998). Sofia University Saint Climent Ohridsky, Sofia, Bulgaria. |
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Professional Experience: Postdoctoral November 2007 to present: Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University. Discovering and interpreting the diversity of life: The Challenge of Superabundant Data. September 2005 to November 2007: NSF-PEET project on Systematics and Monography of Araneoid Spiders. Predoctoral May-July 2004: Collaboration in the project "Un enfoque jerárquico al estudio de la generación de la biodiversidad" University of Barcelona . January-December 2000: MAICh (C.I.H.E.A.M.) Collaboration in projects for integration of GIS with web servers and (Apache and AOLserver). Installation and configuration of community based systems with database backend (OpenACS). 1999-2000: Research fellow in the frame of the D.E.M.O.S.(Developing of a Monitoring System Based on Plant Ecophysiology) project. Project number ERBIC18CT970153. |
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Research Interests: My main interests are in the field of systematics and phylogeny of spiders with emphasis on the family Pholcidae and the orbweaver spiders (Araneoidea). My Ph.D. dissertation research focused on a detailed taxonomic revision of the genus Pholcus in the Canary Islands. This taxonomic work was followed by a phylogenetic analyses based on morphological and molecular data. I am also interested in the systematics, taxonomy and
evolution of spiders. The processes of speciation in general and the
factors involved. Modeling spatial patterns of biodiversity and
quantifying the impact of human and climate changes on them, by
combining remotely sensed spatial and temporal data sets on the status
of environment with geo-referenced taxonomic data. |
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Current Research: The major effort of my current postdoctoral work is the study of the systematics and evolutionary biology of the orb-weaver spiders in the families Tetragnathidae and Mysmenidae. The aim of this research is to complete an in-depth taxonomic revision of this families using modern phylogenetic approach. The phylogenetic component of this project both on a specific and generic level combines morphological, molecular and behavioral characters. |
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Field Experience: Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, USA, Panama |
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November 2007 to present Postdoctoral fellowship, provided by Selective excellence grant from The George Washington University.
June 2007 Travel grant to attend the 17th International Congress of Arachnology.
September 2005 to November 2007 Postdoctoral fellowship, funded by NSF-PEET: “Systematics and Monography of Araneoid Spiders”.
2001-2003 Scholarship from the Division of Sciences of the Barcelona University for supportiong non Catalan PhD students.
1998-2000 C.I.H.E.A.M. scholarship for attending courses and working at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania.
1993–1998 Scholarship from the Sofia University for student excellence (grades over 90% of the maximum).
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Membership: Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB) |
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Dimitrov D., Hormiga G. Submitted. Description of Pinkfloydia, a remarkable new genus of tetragnathid spiders from Western Australia with an expanded hypothesis on the phylogeny of Tetragnathidae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 42pp., 17 figures.
Dimitrov D., Hormiga G. Submitted. Mr. Darwin’s mysterious spider: On the type species of the genus Leucauge White, 1841 (Tetragnathidae, Araneae). ZOOTAXA. 27 pp., 12 figures.
Dimitrov D., Benjamin S.P., Hormiga G. In press. A revised phylogenetic analysis for the genus Clitaetra Simon, 1889 (Araneoidea, Nephilidae) with the first description of the male of the Sri Lankan species Clitaetra thisbe Simon, 1903. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 21 pp., 7 figures.
Dimitrov D., Álvarez-Padilla F., Hormiga G. In press. On the phylogenetic placement of the spider genus Atimiosa Simon, 1895 (Tetragnathidae, Araneae) and the circumscription of the genus Dolichognatha O.P.- Cambridge, 1869. American Museum Novitates. 22 pp., 11 figures.
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Álvarez-Padilla F., Dimitrov D., Giribet G., Hormiga G. 2009. Phylogenetic relationships of the spider family Tetragnathidae (Araneae, Araneoidea) based on morphological and DNA sequence data. Cladistics 25: 109-146. (doi: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2008.00242.x) |
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Dimitrov D., Hormiga G. 2009. Revision and cladistic analysis of the orbweaving spider genus Cyrtognatha Keyserling, 1881 (Araneae, Tetragnathidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 317: 1-140. PDF available via the AMNH research library (very large file). Click here to download PDF. |
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Benjamin S.P., Dimitrov D., Gillespie R.G., Hormiga G. 2008. Family ties: molecular phylogeny of crab spiders (Araneae: Thomisidae). Cladistics, 24(5): 708-722. (doi: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2008.00202.x)
Dimitrov D., Arnedo M.A., Ribera C. 2008. Colonization and diversification of the spider genus Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Pholcidae) in the Macaronesian archipelagoes: Evidence for long-term occupancy yet rapid recent speciation. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 42(2): 596-614. (doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2008.04.027)
Dimitrov D., Álvarez-Padilla F., Hormiga G. 2008. Until dirt do us apart: on the unremarkable palp morphology of the spider Sternospina concretipalpis Schmidt & Krause, 1993, with comments on the genus Prionolaema Simon, 1894 (Araneae, Tetragnathidae). ZOOTAXA, 1698: 49-56. Download PDF
Dimitrov D., Ribera C. 2007. The genus Pholcus (Araneae, Pholcidae) in the Canary Islands. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 151: 59-114. Download PDF
Dimitrov D., Álvarez-Padilla F., Hormiga G. 2007. The female genitalic morphology of the orb weaving spider genus Agriognatha (Araneae, Tetragnathidae). Journal of Morphology, 268: 758-770. Download PDF
Dimitrov D., Ribera C. 2006. Three new species of Pholcus (Araneae, Pholcidae) from the Canary Islands with notes on the genus Pholcus in the archipelago. Journal of Arachnology, 34(1): 126-134. Download PDF
Dimitrov D., Ribera C. 2005a. Description of Ossinissa, a new pholcid genus from the Canary Islands (Araneae: Pholcidae). ZOOTAXA, 982:1-13. Download PDF
Dimitrov D., Ribera C. 2005b. Pholcus vachoni n. sp. (Araneae, Pholcidae) una nueva especies de Agadir (Marruecos). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología, 11:3-6. Download PDF
Borisova N., Antonova V., Delov V., Dimitrov D. 2005. Using GIS and remote sensing in biogeography assessment in the karst terrain of Chepan Mountain and Dragoman marshland (W Bulgaria). - In: Biodiversity, Ecosystems, Global Changes. (Chipev, N., Bogoev,V. Eds.), I-st National Conference in Ecology, Sofia, pp. 75-82.
Dimitrov D., Ribera C. 2003. Pholcus intricatus (Araneae, Pholcidae) una nueva especie endémica de Tenerife (Islas Canarias). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología, 8:7-11. Download PDF
Dimitrov D., Lazarov S. 2002. Contribution to the Study of Spiders (Araneae) in Chepun Mountain and Dragoman Swampland (NW Bulgaria). Acta zoologica bulgarica, 54(2):47-53.
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Dimitrov, D. 2009. Key to the species of the genus Cyrtognatha Keyserling, 1881 (Araneae, Tetragnathidae). Review version 1.0. online at Key to the species of the genus Cyrtognatha Keyserling, 1881 (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)
Álvarez-Padilla, F., D. Dimitrov, and G. Hormiga. 2009. TetraGen: Tetragnathid Genera of the World (Araneoidea: Tetragnathidae), An Illustrated Catalog. Pre-release version 1.0. The George Washington University, online at http://www.gwu.edu/~spiders/tetragen/index.cfm
Dimitrov, Dimitar. 2009. Pholcidae. Daddy-longleg spiders. Version 12 February 2009 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Pholcidae/2719/2009.02.12 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
Dimitrov, Dimitar and Gustavo Hormiga. 2009. Tetragnathidae Menge 1866. Version 09 March 2009 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Tetragnathidae/2799/2009.03.09 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
Hormiga, G., D. Dimitrov, J.A. Miller, and F. Alvarez-Padilla. 2008. LinyGen: Linyphioid Genera of the World (Pimoidae and Linyphiidae), An Illustrated Catalog. Version 2.0. The George Washington University, online at http://www.gwu.edu/~linygen/index.cfm
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Dimitrov D., Lopardo L., Giribet G., Arnedo MA., Álvarez-Padilla F., Hormiga G. Oral presentation – “How many outgroups? The effect of taxonomic sampling on the phylogeny of araneoid spiders.” Evolution 2009. Moscow, Idaho, 12-16 June 2009.
Labarque F.M., Piacentini L.N., Arnedo M.A., Hormiga G., Dimitrov D., Ramírez M.J. Oral presentation – “PANCODING: Primeros pasos para la obtención de una librería de códigos de barras de ADN de las arañas de Panamá.” II Congreso Latinoamericano de Aracnología / VI Encuentro de Aracnólogos del Cono Sur. Salta Capital, Argentina, 30 November – 4 December 2008.
Dimitrov D., Hormiga G. Oral presentation - "A new genus of tetragnathid spiders from Australia with an expanded phylogenetic hypothesis for the generic relationships of Tetragnathidae." 32nd Annual Meeting of the American Arachnological Society. Berkeley, California, 25–30 June 2008
Álvarez-Padilla F., Dimitrov D., Giribet G., Hormiga G. Oral presentation - "Phylogenetic relationships of the spider family Tetragnathidae (Araneae) based on morphological and DNA sequence data." 32nd Annual Meeting of the American Arachnological Society. Berkeley, California, 25–30 June 2008
Arnedo MA., Macías-Hernández NE., Dimitrov D. Oral presentation - "Regreso al pasado: ¿qué nos enseñan las filogenias moleculares sobre la diversificación de los organismos?" Jornadas de Biodiversidad Valenciana y Arácnidos & VIII Jornadas del Grupo Ibérico de Aracnología. Valencia, Spain, 25 - 28 October 2007.
Dimitrov D., Hormiga G. Oral presentation – "Phylogenetic systematics of the neotropical spider genus Cyrtognatha Keyserling (Tetragnathidae, Araneae)." 17th International Congress of Arachnology. São Pedro, São Paulo, Brazil, 5-10 August 2007.
Dimitrov D., Hormiga G. Poster – "Taxonomic revision and phylogenetic analysis of the spider genus Cyrtognatha (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)." PEET VI meeting "Reaching out". Athens, Georgia, USA, 26-29, March 2007.
Ribera C., Dimitrov D., Arnedo MA. Oral presentation - "Are troglobites relicts? New data on cave-dwelling spiders from the Canary Islands." XVIII International Symposium of Biospeleology. Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 10-15 July 2006.
Dimitrov D., Hormiga G. Oral presentation - "Phylogenetic systematics of the spider genus Cyrtognatha (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)." Thirtieth annual meeting of the American Arachnological Society. Baltimore, USA, 17 - 21 June 2006.
Dimitrov D., Ribera C. Oral presentation - "Colonization and radiation of the genus Pholcus in Macaronesia." 22nd European Colloquium of Arachnology. Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, 1 – 6 August 2005.
Borisova N., Antonova V., Delov V., Dimitrov D. "Using GIS and remote sensing in biogeography assessment in the karst terrain of Chepan Mountain and Dragoman marshland (W Bulgaria)." 1st National Scientific Conference in Ecology. Varna, Bulgaria. 2004 (Abstracts). - 57-58
Dimitrov D., Ribera C. Oral presentation - "Phylogeny, Biogeography and Evolution of the genus Pholcus (Araneae,Pholcidae) in the Macaronesian archipelagoes." 16th International Congress of Arachnology. Gent University, Belgium, 2 - 7 August 2004.
Dimitrov D., Ribera C. Oral presentation - "Revisión taxonómica del género Pholcus (Araneae, Pholcidae) en las Islas Canarias". International Congress of Biodiversity and Arachnids. San Sebastián, Spain, 7 - 9 noviembre 2003.
Dimitrov D. Oral presentation - "Un repaso a las investigaciones araneológicas en Bulgaria". 2nd Conferences of the Iberian Group of Arachnology. Barcelona, Spain, 6-8 septiembre 2001.
Scientific core contributor to the Tree of Life Web Project (http://tolweb.org). Responsible for the branches Pholcidae (http://tolweb.org/Pholcidae/2719) and Tetragnathidae (http://tolweb.org/Tetragnathidae/2799).
Training of visting scholars and doctoral and undergraduate students in theoretical and practical methods of phylogenetic systematics (e.g., SEM techiques and molecular laboratory, data mining and analyses methods relevant to systematics research).
Review of manuscripts for: Biology Letters, BMC Evolutionary Biology, Invertebrate Systematics, Kansas Academy of Science Transactions, Revista Ibérica de Aracnología.
2007 Team leader in the Rock Creek Park BioBlitz species inventory organized by National Geographic.
