Monday, December 3, 2012

[Arachnology • 2011] Revalidation of Pterinopelma Pocock 1901 with description of a new species; Pterinopelma sazimai | and the female of Pterinopelma vitiosum (Keyserling 1891) (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Theraphosinae)


Pterinopelma sazimai sp. nov. 

Abstract
We revalidate the theraphosid genus Pterinopelma Pocock 1901, describe the female of P. vitiosum for first time and Pterinopelma sazimai sp. nov. from Brazil. These two species were included in a matrix with 35 characters and 32 taxa and were analyzed both with all characters having same weight and with implied weights. Searches considering all characters non-additive or some additive were also carried out. The preferred tree, obtained with implied weights, concavity 6 and all characters non-additive shows that Pterinopelma is a monophyletic genus sister to the clade Lasiodora (Vitalius Nhandu). The presence of denticles on the prolateral inferior male palpal bulb keel is a synapomorphy of the genus.

Key words: Brazil, Cladistic analysis, Eurypelma, Eupalaestrus, taxonomy, Tarantula


Etymology. The specific name is a patronym in honor of Dr. Ivan Sazima, an important Brazilian zoologist who was the first researcher to collect exemplars of this species in the decades of 1970 and 1980. These specimens remained as the sole exemplars of the species known for a long time.

Distribution. Brazil, States of Bahia and Minas Gerais, on the "Serra do Espinhaço" range and its disjunctions (from 21°10' to 10° S). Natural history. Individuals were collected on campo rupestre areas (Figs 17–18), which are characterized by their height above sea level (above 900m), in association with a high degree of outcropping and consequent reduction of soil depth (Giulietti & Pirani 1988). Juveniles (Fig. 16) were found under rocks, during the day (25 °C and 64% relative humidity of air), on a campo rupestre area at about 1300m a.s.l. The female holotype was crossing a trail, in the afternoon (4 p.m.).


Bertani, R., Nagahama, R.H. and Fukushima, C.S. 2011. Revalidation of Pterinopelma Pocock 1901 with description of a new species and the female of Pterinopelma vitiosum (Keyserling 1891) (Araneae: Theraphosidae: Theraphosinae). Zootaxa. 2814: 1–18. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/zt02814p018.pdf