Austrochilidae facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Austrochilidae |
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| Thaida chepu, male eyes | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Austrochilidae Zapfe, 1955 |
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| Diversity | |
| 3 genera, 10 species | |
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Austrochilidae is a small spider family with ten species in three genera. Austrochilus and Thaida are endemic to the Andean forest of central and southern Chile and adjacent Argentina, while Hickmania is endemic to Tasmania. The monophyly of the family and the relationships among the genera are uncertain as of May 2017[update].
Taxonomy
As of May 2017[update], three genera are placed in the family Austrochilidae: Austrochilus and Thaida, found in Chile and Argentina, and Hickmania, found in Tasmania, Australia. The taxonomic placement of these genera has varied. In 1968, Lehtinen synonymized Austrochilus and Thaida under the latter name, placing the genus in a family he called "Thaididae", Hickmania being placed in the separate family Hickmaniidae. However, the family name "Thaididae" is preoccupied, being first used for a family of gastropods in 1887. A single family was accepted by Forster et al. in 1987, under the name "Austrochilidae". A large scale phylogenetic study in 2016 suggested that Hickmania is more closely related to the family Gradungulidae and the genus Archoleptoneta than to Austrochilus and Thaidu. Molecular phylogenetic studies agree in placing the three genera as basal members of the Araneomorphae, although the precise details and the family placement are not yet agreed.
Phylogeny
One hypothesis for the phylogeny of the genera placed in the family is shown below (Austrochilidae genera in bold). The family shows a mixture of "primitive" and "advanced" features. The retention of four book lungs places the family at the base of the Araneomorphae, whereas some features of their silk production are regarded as derived.
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Species
As of April 2019[update], the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera:
- Austrochilus Gertsch & Zapfe, 1955 — Chile, Argentina
- Hickmania Gertsch, 1958 — Australia
- Thaida Karsch, 1880 — Chile, Argentina
See also
In Spanish: Austroquílidos para niños
