The wishbone spiders of Eastern Australia (Mygalomorphae: Anamidae: Aname): A workflow for the description of 40+ new species in one year.

The wishbone spiders of Eastern Australia (Mygalomorphae: Anamidae: Aname): A workflow for the description of 40+ new species in one year.

Jeremy D. WilsonRoom 2: T2

Jeremy D. Wilson (University of Western Australia and Western Australian Museum); Leigh W. Simmons (University of Western Australia); Mark S. Harvey (Western Australian Museum and University of Western Australia); Michael G. Rix (Queensland Museum).

The wishbone spiders of the genus Aname (Anamidae) have radiated across the Australian tropical and arid zones, and, along with another Australian arid-zone specialist group Idiosoma (Idiopidae), represent some of the most diverse genera of mygalomorph spiders (trapdoor spiders and relatives) in the world. Estimates based on collections and molecular datasets suggest 250+ species of Aname across the continent, of which 48 were described at the commencement of our revisionary project in late 2022. Revising such diverse genera inevitably comes with challenges including a legacy taxonomy, pronounced sexual dimorphism, and the workload of producing images and descriptions. In year one of the project we focused on tropical/sub-tropical eastern Australia, documenting and describing 40+ new Aname species from this region. During this time, we developed a workflow for expediting large revisionary works on mygalomorph spiders without compromising quality, and this will be refined over the coming years as it is applied to the centre of Aname diversity, in Western Australia. In this talk I will highlight the strategies we have employed to increase our rate of species description during the revision of the eastern Aname in year one of our project, and the plan going forward to revise the remaining fauna.

Jeremy Wilson: jeremydwilson91@gmail.com
Mon 3:02 pm - 12:00 am
Symposium: Methods
spiders
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