Sason (spider)

Sason is a genus of bark-dwelling brushed trapdoor spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1887.[3] It is distributed from the Seychelles through India to northern Australia. The closest related genus seems to be the monotypic Paracenobiopelma.[4]

Sason
Sason robustum, adult and its nest
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Barychelidae
Genus: Sason
Simon, 1887[1]
Type species
Sarpedon robustum
Species

9, see text

Synonyms
  • Chrysopelma Roewer, 1963[2]

Description

These are small, compact spiders, ranging from 5 to 10 millimetres (0.20 to 0.39 in) long. They are strongly patterned and have stout legs, physically resembling those of the tree trapdoor spiders.[4]

Distribution

Most species are endemic small areas, many of which are small islands that emerged from the ocean floor in recent geological times with no connection to the mainland. These were likely inhabited by pregnant females surviving in floating logs, while most of the other speciation is believed to have occurred due to fragmentation of the former supercontinent Gondwana.[5]

Taxonomy

The genus was erected by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1883 for the type species Sarpedon robustum,[6] but this name was already in use for a genus of false click beetles. In 1887, Eugène Simon renamed the genus to Sason, an abbreviation of the biblical judge Samson. The earlier name was based on Sarpedon, a legendary king at the siege of Troy, alluding to their "regal" appearance.[4]

Species

As of April 2019 it contains nine species:[1]

References
  1. "Gen. Sason Simon, 1887". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  2. Raven, R. J. (1985). "The spider infraorder Mygalomorphae (Araneae): Cladistics and systematics". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 182: 113.
  3. Simon, E. (1887). "Observation sur divers arachnides: synonymies et descriptions". Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. 7 (6): 193–195.
  4. Raven, R. (1986). "A revision of the spider genus Sason Simon (Sasoninae, Barychelidae, Mygalomorphae) and its historical biogeography" (PDF). The Journal of Arachnology. 14: 47–70. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  5. Schwendinger, P.J. (2003). "Two new species of the arboreal trapdoor spider genus Sason (Araneae: Barychelidae) from Southeast Asia" (PDF). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 51 (2): 197–207. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  6. Pickard-Cambridge, O. (1883). "On some new genera and species of spiders". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 51 (3): 354. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1883.tb06654.x.
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