Tama novaehollandiae facts for kids

Tama novaehollandiae is the name of an Australian spider. It is also sometimes called Tamopsis novaehollandiae. This spider belongs to a family called Hersiliidae. Scientists are not sure which spider this name truly refers to. This is because the original spider specimen used to describe it has been lost. So, Tama novaehollandiae is now called a nomen dubium, which means "doubtful name."

Spider Classification: A Confusing Name

This spider was first described in 1876 by a German scientist named Ludwig Carl Christian Koch. He was an entomologist, which means he studied insects and spiders. Koch named the spider Chalinura novaehollandiae. The name novaehollandiae comes from Latin and means "New Holland." This was an old name for Australia.

How the Spider's Name Changed

Over the years, other scientists moved this spider to different groups, or "genera."

• In 1882, Eugène Simon moved it to the genus Rhadine.
• Then, in 1892, he moved it again to the genus Tama.

Why the Name is Doubtful

In 1987, two scientists, Barbara Baehr and Martin Baehr, studied Australian spiders from the Hersiliidae family. They created a new genus called Tamopsis. They moved all Australian Tama spiders into this new group.

However, there was a big problem with Koch's original Chalinura novaehollandiae. The special spider specimen he used to describe it, called the type specimen, was lost. It seems to have disappeared in Hamburg, Germany, during World War II.

Because the original specimen is gone, scientists cannot be sure which spider Koch was looking at. Barbara and Martin Baehr found that many spiders thought to be Tama novaehollandiae were actually different species. They decided that the name Tama novaehollandiae is a nomen dubium. This means it's a "doubtful name" that will probably always be unclear.

Spiders Once Mistaken for T. novaehollandiae

Here are some other spider species that were once incorrectly identified as T. novaehollandiae:

• Tamopsis brachycauda
• Tamopsis brevipes
• Tamopsis brisbanensis
• Tamopsis centralis
• Tamopsis daviesi