''Davus pentaloris'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of New World

tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

(family Theraphosidae) native to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. ''Davus'' was at one time considered to be a synonym of ''

Cyclosternum ''Cyclosternum'' is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871. Species it contains twelve species, found in South America, Costa Rica, and Mexico: *'' Cyclosternum darienense'' Gabriel & Sherwood, 2022 = Panama ...

'', and its species were placed in that genus, but this is no longer accepted. ''D. pentaloris'' has been found to display high morphological variation across its widespread distribution. Due to the typically low dispersal capability of tarantulas and associated high levels of local

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

this led to a hypothesis of hidden diversity within the species, with the high morphological variation suspected to be evidence that ''D. pentaloris'' is actually a species complex. Morphological and molecular analyses employing mtDNA data led to the recognition of 13 clearly diagnosable species, with 12 of them being new to science.

References

External links

Theraphosidae Spiders of Mexico Spiders of Central America Spiders described in 1888 {{Theraphosidae-stub