''Porrhothele'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

mygalomorph 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 the ...

spiders

endemic 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 ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. They are the only members of the family Porrhothelidae. They were first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1892. Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was moved to the

Hexathelidae Hexathelidae is a family of mygalomorph spiders. It is one of a number of families and genera of spiders known as funnel-web spiders. In 2018, the family was substantially reduced in size by genera being moved to three separate families: Atracid ...

in 1980, they were placed in their own family in 2018. Members of Porrhothelidae are distinguished from other

spiders by the small posterior sigillae and a single row of teeth on the forward-facing margin of the

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 ...

. Males have many strong spines on the forward-facing margin of their

tibiae The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Porrhothele'' was erected by

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider taxonomist in history, describing over 4, ...

in 1892 for the species '' Porrhothele antipodiana''. Simon transferred these from ''Mygale'', a genus previously used for many

spiders, but is no longer in use. He placed this genus in the subfamily Diplurinae, which later became the family Dipluridae. Raven transferred the genus to

, where it remained until the results of a 2018

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study suggested that it belongs in its own family. The following

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...

shows the possible relationship of ''Porrhothele'' to related taxa.

Species

it contains five species, all found in

: *'' Porrhothele antipodiana'' (Walckenaer, 1837) ( type) – New Zealand *'' Porrhothele blanda'' Forster, 1968 – New Zealand *'' Porrhothele moana'' Forster, 1968 – New Zealand *'' Porrhothele modesta'' Forster, 1968 – New Zealand *'' Porrhothele quadrigyna'' Forster, 1968 – New Zealand

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q98890, from2=Q53573149 Mygalomorphae genera Spiders of New Zealand Mygalomorphae