Biologists discovering a new family of spiders took San Diego State research to the California Academy of Sciences, where they uncovered an unusual finding in the field of arachnology. Trogloraptor marchingtoni was found in a cave system in southern Oregon and in redwood forests.
California’s SDSU postdoctoral re- search associate Dr. Axel Schönhofer said he photographed and captured some specimens in the latter region. Schönhofer brought his samples to SDSU biology professor Dr. Marshal Hedin who analyzed the spider and realized it coincided with current research being conducted at CAS.
According to Schönhofer, there has been no new discovery in such taxonomic levels in the U.S. since 1893. There have been revisions in taxonomic order, one of which Hedin participated in last June. This research re-ranked Ctenizidae, a type of tarantula, as a family clause in the infraorder Mygalomorphae, according to former SDSU biology master’sstudent Jordan Setler.
Interestingly enough, reconsideration of classification is more common than finding an entirely unclassified family, as in the case of the Trogloraptor. Displaying what Schönhofer referred to as a “primitive” sexual apparatus, the Trogloraptor, commonly referred to as “the cave robber spider,” is an ancient family. “Like a dinosaur found somewhere,” Schönhofer said.
For climatic reasons such as the relatively stable environment of redwood forests, many relict organisms are found in this area and are therefore unique to it. The large coniferous trees and other unchanged fauna of the forest aid in this prolonged stability, according to Schönhofer. “They’re very important for biodiversity,” Schönhofer added. “The forest needs protection.”
The Trogloraptor is about one and a half inches wide when its legs are ex- tended, larger than a half-dollar coin. Its raptorial claws, similar to the di- nosaur, earned the spider its name. According to The Telegraph Tro- glo- is Latin for “thriving in caves,” while the name “marchingtoni” honors Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy Neil Marchington, who led scientists to the cave where the spi- der had been found.
