''Synothele meadhunteri'' 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 mygalomorph spider in the

Barychelidae Barychelidae, also known as brushed trapdoor spiders, is a spider family with about 300 species in 42 genera. Most spiders in this family build trapdoor burrows. For example, the long ''Sipalolasma'' builds its burrow in rotted wood, with a hinge ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

. It is

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 ...

to Australia. It was described in 1994 by Australian arachnologist

Robert Raven Robert John Raven is an Australian arachnologist, being the Head of Terrestrial Biodiversity and the Senior Curator (Arachnida) at the Queensland Museum. Dr Raven has described many species of spider in Australia and elsewhere, and is spider bit ...

. The specific epithet ''meadhunteri'' honours Derek Mead-Hunter, collector and contributor of specimens to the Western Australian Museum.

Distribution and habitat

The species occurs in the

Goldfields–Esperance The Goldfields–Esperance region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the south eastern corner of Western Australia, and comprises the local government areas of Coolgardie, Dundas, Esperance, Kalgoorlie–Bo ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and the Far North region of South Australia. The type locality is Queen Victoria Spring, about 200 km east of

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

in the

Great Victoria Desert The Great Victoria Desert is a sparsely populated desert ecoregion and interim Australian bioregion in Western Australia and South Australia. History In 1875, British-born Australian explorer Ernest Giles became the first European to cross th ...

. It has also been recorded from the

Olympic Dam mine The Olympic Dam mine is a large poly-metallic underground mine located in South Australia, NNW of Adelaide. It is the fourth largest copper deposit and the largest known single deposit of uranium in the world. Copper is the largest contributor ...

site at

Roxby Downs Roxby Downs may refer to. * Roxby Downs, South Australia, a town and a locality * Roxby Council, formerly Municipal Council of Roxby Downs, a local government area See also *Roxby Downs Station Roxby Downs Station was a pastoral lease in centra ...

References

meadhunteri Endemic fauna of Australia Spiders of Australia Arthropods of South Australia Arthropods of Western Australia Spiders described in 1994 Taxa named by Robert Raven {{Barychelidae-stub