Noideattella tsiba
| Noideattella tsiba | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Oonopidae |
| Genus: | Noideattella |
| Species: | N. tsiba
|
| Binomial name | |
| Noideattella tsiba Álvarez-Padilla, Ubick & Griswold, 2012
| |
Noideattella tsiba is a species of araneomorph spider in the family Oonopidae, (also called "goblin spiders"). This species can only be found on the African island Madagascar.[1] Two individual specimens were collected when the species was first discovered.[1] The first was a male holotype which measured 1.4 mm across.[1] The other, a female paratype measured 1.6 mm.[1]
Taxonomy and naming
[edit]N. tsiba was first reported from Madagascar in 2012, and its discovery was part of a project called the Goblin Spider Planetary Biodiversity Inventory.[1] The report also named the genera Noideatella (to which N. tsiba belongs) and Tolegnaro.[1] While 11 species were reported within Noideatella in this report, only two species were reported from Tolegnaro.[1]
Evolution
[edit]N. tsiba appears to be most closely realated to N. saka and N. lanaka. [1] A cladistic analysis done in between the 11 species of Noideatella and two species of Tolegnaro supports a monophyletic relationship between these genera.[1] This means that the common ancestor of Noideatella and Tolegnaro likely share a common ancestor within the Oonopid family. The Oonpid spiders have a fossil record dating back to the early Cretaceous Period (specifically the Albian faunal stage.[2] [3] Madagascar began to separate from Africa well ahead of the early Cretaceous.[4] Given that N. tsiba, the rest of its genus, and the genus Tolegnaro are all endemic to Madagascar, it is likely that the Noideatella-Tolegnaro common ancestor was present on Madagascar after the island had rifted away from Africa.
Distribution and habitat
[edit]While only two specimens were initially collected, N. tsiba has been observed in nine locations- eight of which are in the northernmost region of Madagascar.[1] The ninth observation took place in the southeast portion of the island.[1] The collected specimens were found living in leaf litter on the floor of a dry tropical forest (Forêt de Binara in Antsiranana Province).[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Álvarez-Padilla, Ubick & Griswold, 2012 : Noideattella and Tolegnaro, two new genera of goblin spiders from Madagascar, with comments on the gamasomorphoid and silhouettelloid oonopids (Araneae, Oonopidae). American Museum Novitates, No. 3745, p. 1-76 (Full Text).
- ^ Penney, D. (2006). Fossil oonopid spiders in Cretaceous ambers from Canada and Myanmar. Palaeontology 49(1): 229–235.
- ^ Penney, D. (2004). New spiders in upper Cretaceous amber from New Jersey in the American Museum of Natural History (Arthropoda: Araneae). Palaeontology 47(2): 367–375.
- ^ Brownfield, M.E., and Schenk, C.J. - Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Seychelles Province, east Africa, in Brownfield, M.E., compiler, Geologic assessment of undiscovered hydrocarbon resources of Sub-Saharan Africa: U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series 69–GG, chap. 13, 12 p., https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ds69GG.