Revisions of Australian ground-hunting spiders: I. Amauropelma gen. nov. (Araneomorphae: Ctenidae)

Abstract

-Revisions of Australian ground-hunting spiders: I. Amauropelma gen. novo (Aranemorphae: Ctenidae). A new genus Amauropelma is described from north-eastern Australia and includes 16 new species:

The Morphology And Phylogeny Of Dionychan Spiders (Araneae: Araneomorphae)

“…113A). A similar conformation has been recently reported for some Australian Zoropsidae as well (Raven and Stumkat, 2005). COMMENTS: Cf.…”

“…5). The sclerite was also found in the diaprograptine Diaprograpta (Raven, 2009, as ''accessory spine''). COM-MENTS: Titanoeca: a piece at the base of embolus is interpreted as an embolar process (scored 0).…”

“…The candidates for such a group usually have some striking characters: grate-shaped tapeta, oval calamistrum, tibial cracks on male legs, and a tegulum-subtegulum interlocking mechanism in the male copulatory bulb. The group endured some further analyses based on morphology , although the internal relationships of lycosoids and relatives (the Oval Calamistrum clade in Griswold et al, 1999; the Grate-Shaped Tapetum clade in Silva are fluctuating in the different analyses (Griswold, 1993;Raven and Stumkat, 2005). THE ROOT OF DIONYCHA: Recent molecular analyses of the RTA clade Spagna and Gillespie, 2008) suggested that the dionychans may be the sister group to the lycosoids, although those studies had only a limited number of representatives of those clades (three and one, respectively).…”

Litho-refugia: the importance of rock landscapes for the long-term persistence of Australian rainforest fauna

“…All Amauropelma, except A. undara, are found in, or in close proximity to, the rainforests of northeastern Queensland. The distribution of A. undara is subcoastal and widely disjunct (approximately 180 km inland, Raven et al 2001). The Dry vine thickets associated with the rock formations at Undara point to past connections with more widespread mesic rainforest communities.…”

“…One, A. rifleck Raven, Stumkat and Gray, 2001, is found in dense grassy cover in open forest communities in northeastern Queensland. The other, A. undara Raven, Stumkat and Gray 2001, is narrowly restricted to caves associated with the Undara lava tunnels (north-west of Townsville, NEQ). The complete absence of eyes in this species points to its adaptation to deep caves.…”