Atrax

Atrax is a genus of venomous Australian funnel web spiders that was first described by O. Pickard-Cambridge in 1877 from the type species Atrax robustus.[3][4] As of May 2019 it contains only three species: A. robustus, A. sutherlandi, and A. yorkmainorum.[1] Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was moved to the Hexathelidae in 1980,[5] then to the Australian funnel-web spiders in 2018.[6]

For the mythological figure, see Atrax (mythology). For the ancient city of Thessaly, see Atrax (Thessaly).

Atrax
Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Atracidae
Genus: Atrax
O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877[1]
Type species
A. robustus
O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877
Species
  • A. robustus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877 – Australia (New South Wales)
  • A. sutherlandi Gray, 2010 – Australia (New South Wales, Victoria)
  • A. yorkmainorum Gray, 2010 – Australia (New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory)
Synonyms[1]
  • Poikilomorpha Rainbow, 1914[2]

Phylogeography

Phylogeography can be understood as the historical changes or occurrences that bring about a change to a specific species or organism. After extensive studies, researches have found that there are many geographical and genetic differences that have occurred due to micro-habitat distributions. The assumption has been made that the species of Atrax have experienced a shift in genetic structure due to the niches that they inhabit. Habitats are not the only factor to this divergence; researchers have also noted the climatic events, prey availability, and natural occurrence of biodiversity.[7]

References
  1. "Gen. Atrax O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  2. Gray, Michael R. (1978), "Venoms of Dipluridae", in Bettini, S. (ed.), Arthropod Venoms, Springer, Berlin, p. 125
  3. Pickard-Cambridge, O. (1877). "On some new genera and species of Araneidea". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 19 (4): 26–39.
  4. Gray, Michael R. (2010-11-24). "A revision of the Australian funnel-web spiders (Hexathelidae: Atracinae)" (PDF). Records of the Australian Museum. 62 (3): 285–392. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.62.2010.1556.
  5. Raven, R. J. (1980). "The evolution and biogeography of the mygalomorph spider family Hexathelidae (Araneae, Chelicerata)". Journal of Arachnology. 8: 255.
  6. Hedin, M.; et al. (2018). "Phylogenomic reclassification of the world's most venomous spiders (Mygalomorphae, Atracinae), with implications for venom evolution". Scientific Reports. 8 (1636): 4.
  7. Beavis, Amber S.; et al. (2011). "Microhabitat Preferences Drive Phylogeographic Disparities in Two Australian Funnel Web Spiders". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 104 (4): 805–819.

Data related to Atrax at Wikispecies Media related to Atrax at Wikimedia Commons

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