Mesothelae
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Mesothelae
The Mesothelae are a suborder of spiders (order Araneae) that includes a single extant family, Liphistiidae, and a number of extinct families. This suborder is thought to form the sister group to all other living spiders, and to retain ancestral characters, such as a segmented abdomen with spinnerets in the middle and two pairs of book lungs. Members of Liphistiidae are medium to large spiders with eight eyes grouped on a tubercle. They are found only in China, Japan, and southeast Asia. The oldest known Mesothelae spiders are known from the Carboniferous, over 300 million years ago. The Heptathelidae were once considered their own family; today they are considered a subfamily of the Liphistiidae. Description Members of Mesothelae have paraxial chelicerae, two pairs of coxal glands on the legs, eight eyes grouped on a nodule, two pairs of book lungs, and no endites on the base of the pedipalp. Most have at least seven or eight spinnerets near the middle of the abdomen. Latera ...
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Araneae
Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all orders of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every land habitat. , 50,356 spider species in 132 families have been recorded by taxonomists. However, there has been debate among scientists about how families should be classified, with over 20 different classifications proposed since 1900. Anatomically, spiders (as with all arachnids) differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax or prosoma, and the opisthosoma, or abdomen, and joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel, however, as there is currently neither paleontological nor embryological evidence that spiders ever had a separate ...
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Spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all orders of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every land habitat. , 50,356 spider species in 132 families have been recorded by taxonomists. However, there has been debate among scientists about how families should be classified, with over 20 different classifications proposed since 1900. Anatomically, spiders (as with all arachnids) differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax or prosoma, and the opisthosoma, or abdomen, and joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel, however, as there is currently neither paleontological nor embryological evidence that spiders ever had ...
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Liphistiidae
The spider family Liphistiidae, recognized by Tamerlan Thorell in 1869, comprises 8 genera and about 100 species of medium-sized spiders from Southeast Asia, China, and Japan. They are among the most basal living spiders, belonging to the suborder Mesothelae. In Japan, the Kimura spider (''Heptathela kimurai'') is well known. Biology Liphistiidae are tube-dwelling spiders that construct rudimentary trap-doors. They spend most of their time here and are rarely seen above ground. The medium to large spiders range from long. They are characterized by their downward pointing, daggerlike chelicerae, and the segmented series of plates on the upper surface of the abdomen. The carapace is mostly flat, though it can be slightly elevated near the head. The eyes are distinctly clustered together on a single nodule. Anterior median eyes are small, but posterior median eyes are large and round. The lateral eyes are long and kidney-shaped. The distal leg segments have strong spines and th ...
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Opisthothelae
The Opisthothelae are spiders within the order Araneae, consisting of the Mygalomorphae and the Araneomorphae, but excluding the Mesothelae. The Opisthothelae are sometimes presented as an unranked clade and sometimes as a suborder of the Araneae. In the latter case, the Mygalomorphae and Araneomorphae are treated as infraorders. The fairly recent creation of this taxon has been justified by the requirement to distinguish these spiders from the Mesothelae, which display many more primitive characteristics. Those that distinguish between the Mesothelae and Opisthothelae are: * The tergite plates on the abdomen of Mesothelae but absent in Opisthothelae * The almost total absence of ganglia in the abdomen of Opisthothelae * The almost median position of the spinnerets in the Mesothelae compared with the hindmost position of those of the Opistothelae Among the Opisthothelae, the fangs A fang is a long, pointed tooth. In mammals, a fang is a modified maxillary tooth, used ...
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Palaeothele
''Palaeothele'' is an extinct genus of mesothele spiders, with only one known species ''Palaeothele montceauensis''. Two fossils were found at Montceau-les-Mines, France, in ironstone concretion deposits of Late Carboniferous ( Stephanian) age, about . Taxonomy The genus was first named as ''Eothele'' by Paul A. Selden in 1996. However, this name had already been used for a Cambrian brachiopod, so in 2000, Selden proposed the replacement name ''Palaeothele''. ''Palaeothele'' is derived from the Greek , "ancient", and , "nipple" – a common ending for spider names, referring to their spinnerets. The species name ''montceauensis'' refers to the location where the fossils were found. Phylogeny In 1996, Selden suggested the relationships shown in the cladogram below. (At the time, ''Attercopus'' was thought to be a spider; it is now considered to belong to a related but separate group, the Uraraneida.) ''Palaeothele'' is shown as sister to the modern genus ''Heptathela'' since th ...
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Liphistius
''Liphistius'' is a genus of basal trapdoor spiders in the family Liphistiidae. They are found in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Etymology ''Liphistius'' is from the Greek ''leipo'' (lacking) and ''stios'' (equality). Biology Female body lengths range from 9 to 29 mm; males are slightly smaller. They live in burrows in earthen banks, on some cave walls, and probably in forests. The burrow is sealed with a thin, circular, woven door, which is disguised with soil and moss. While they spend the day deep inside their burrows, at night they wait just below the door for insects, woodlice, and similar invertebrates that stumble over one of the seven silken threads that radiate from the entrance. With a reluctance to leave their burrows, they push up the door and reach for their prey. Murphy, Frances & Murphy, John (2000): An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia. ''Malaysian Nature Society'', Kuala Lumpur. Species , the World Spider Catalog accepts the following spec ...
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Mygalomorphae
The Mygalomorphae, or mygalomorphs, are an infraorder of spiders, and comprise one of three major groups of living spiders with over 3000 species, found on all continents except Antarctica. Many members are known as trapdoor spiders due to them forming trapdoors over their burrows. Other prominent groups include Australian funnel web spiders and tarantulas, with the latter accounting for around one third of all mygalomorphs. Description This group of spiders comprises mostly heavy-bodied, stout-legged spiders including tarantulas, Australian funnel-web spiders, mouse spiders, and various families of spiders commonly called trapdoor spiders. Like the " primitive" suborder of spiders Mesothelae, they have two pairs of book lungs, and downward-pointing chelicerae. Because of this, the two groups were once believed to be closely related. Later it was realized that the common ancestors of all spiders had these features (a state known as symplesiomorphy). Following the branching ...
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Heptathela Higoensis
''Heptathela'' is a genus of spiders that includes the Kimura spider (''Heptathela kimurai''). They are trapdoor spiders of the family Liphistiidae and are found in Japan, including Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands. Spiders of this genus lack venom glands. Full text at (60 MB) Females are up to 25 mm long, males slightly smaller. Burrows have an oval shaped door which is hinged across the long diameter. Name The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek ''hepta'' "seven", referring to the number of spinneret glands. Species , the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species: *'' Heptathela aha'' Xu, Ono, Kuntner, Liu & Li, 2019 – Ryukyu Is. *'' Heptathela amamiensis'' Haupt, 1983 – Ryukyu Is. *'' Heptathela crypta'' Xu, Ono, Kuntner, Liu & Li, 2019 – Ryukyu Is. *'' Heptathela gayozan'' Xu, Ono, Kuntner, Liu & Li, 2019 – Ryukyu Is. *'' Heptathela helios'' Tanikawa & Miyashita, 2014 (synonym ''H. yaginumai'' Ono, 1998) – Japan *'' Heptathela higoensis'' ...
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Chelicerae
The chelicerae () are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as " jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated fangs, or similarly to pincers. Some chelicerae, such as those found on nearly all spiders, are hollow and contain (or are connected to) venom glands, and are used to inject venom into prey or a perceived threat. In ''Pisaurina mira'', also known as the nursery web spider, the chelicerae are utilized to snatch the prey once it becomes within reach, facilitating the "sit-and-wait ambush predator" behavior. Both pseudoscorpions and harvestmen have structures on their chelicerae that are used for grooming (papillae in pseudoscorpions, cheliceral teeth in Opiliones). Types Chelicerae can be divided into three kinds: jackknife chelicerae, scissor chelicerae, and 3-segmented chelate chelicerae. Jackknife chelicerae The jackknife chelicera is subchelate (wi ...
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Reginald Innes Pocock
Reginald Innes Pocock Fellow of the Royal Society, F.R.S. (4 March 1863 – 9 August 1947) was a British zoologist. Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock (historian), Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St Edward's School, Oxford, St. Edward's School, Oxford. He received tutoring in zoology from Sir Edward Poulton, and was allowed to explore comparative anatomy at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford Museum. He studied biology and geology at University College, Bristol, under Conwy Lloyd Morgan and William Johnson Sollas. In 1885, he became an assistant at the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum, and worked in the section of entomology for a year. He was put in charge of the collections of Arachnida and Myriapoda. He was also given the task to arrange the British birds collections, in the course of which he developed a lasting interest in ornithology. The 2 ...
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Solifugae
Solifugae is an order of animals in the class Arachnida known variously as camel spiders, wind scorpions, sun spiders, or solifuges. The order includes more than 1,000 described species in about 147 genera. Despite the common names, they are neither true scorpions (order Scorpiones), nor true spiders (order Araneae). Most species of Solifugae live in dry climates and feed opportunistically on ground-dwelling arthropods and other small animals. The largest species grow to a length of , including legs. A number of urban legends exaggerate the size and speed of the Solifugae, and their potential danger to humans, which is negligible. Anatomy Solifuges are moderately small to large arachnids (a few millimeters to several centimeters in body length), with the larger species reaching in length, including legs. In practice, the respective lengths of the legs of various species differ drastically, so the resulting figures are often misleading. More practical measurements refer prim ...
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Synonym (taxonomy)
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name (under the currently used system of scientific nomenclature) to the Norway spruce, which he called ''Pinus abies''. This name is no longer in use, so it is now a synonym of the current scientific name, '' Picea abies''. * In zoology, moving a species from one genus to another results in a different binomen, but the name is considered an alternative combination rather than a synonym. The concept of synonymy in zoology is reserved for two names at the same rank that refers to a taxon at that rank - for example, the name ''Papilio prorsa'' Linnaeus, 1758 is a junior synonym of ''Papilio levana'' Linnaeus, 1758, being names for different seasonal forms of the species now referred to as ''Araschnia ...
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