Sason (genus)
Encyclopedia
Sason is a genus
of mygalomorph
bark-dwelling trapdoor spider
s of the family Barychelidae
. It is distributed throughout the Australasia
n region. The closest related species seems to be the monotypic
Paracenobiopelma gerecormophilum.
in general appearance. Spiders of the genus Sason are strongly patterned, especially the males have many short bristles on the glabrous carapace.
.
, and an earlier name for the genus, Sarpedon
(a legendary king at the siege of Troy
), both allude to the regal appearance of these spiders. Sason was a replacement name for Sarpedon when Simon found out that Sarpedon was already preoccupied for a genus of beetles.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of mygalomorph
Mygalomorphae
The Mygalomorphae, , are an infraorder of spiders. The latter name comes from the orientation of the fangs which point straight down and do not cross each other .-Description:...
bark-dwelling trapdoor spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s of the family Barychelidae
Barychelidae
The Brushed trapdoor spiders are a spider family with about 300 species in 44 general. This family is the only family in superfamily Barycheloidea....
. It is distributed throughout the Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
n region. The closest related species seems to be the monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
Paracenobiopelma gerecormophilum.
Description
The small (five to ten millimeters long), compact, stout-legged spiders of the subfamily Sasoninae resemble those of the family MigidaeMigidae
The tree trapdoor spiders are a spider family with about 90 species in 10 genera.These small spiders are not hairy.They build burrows with a trapdoor...
in general appearance. Spiders of the genus Sason are strongly patterned, especially the males have many short bristles on the glabrous carapace.
Distribution
Most Sason species are endemic to rather small areas. Two factors are believed to have contributed to the distribution pattern of Sason. For one, some are found on small islands that emerged from the ocean floor in recent geological times, without ever having been connected to the mainland. These were likely inhabited by pregnant females surviving in floating logs. However, most of the speciation is believed to have occurred due to fragmentation of the former supercontinent GondwanaGondwana
In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
.
Name
The genus name, an abbreviation of the biblical name SamsonSamson
Samson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....
, and an earlier name for the genus, Sarpedon
Sarpedon
In Greek mythology, Sarpedon referred to at least three different people.-Son of Zeus and Europa:The first Sarpedon was a son of Zeus and Europa, and brother to Minos and Rhadamanthys. He was raised by the king Asterion and then, banished by Minos, his rival in love for the young Miletus, he...
(a legendary king at the siege of Troy
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
), both allude to the regal appearance of these spiders. Sason was a replacement name for Sarpedon when Simon found out that Sarpedon was already preoccupied for a genus of beetles.
Species
- Sason andamanicum Simon, 1888 — Andaman IslandsAndaman IslandsThe Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...
- Sason colemaniSason colemaniSason colemani is a species of barychelid trapdoor spiders that has only been found in a natural swamp in the Botanical Gardens in Cairns, Queensland. Its retreat is a short tube with a door at each end which it builds on the bark of trees. When one door opens, the other is pressed closed...
Raven, 1986 — QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean... - Sason hirsutum Schwendinger, 2003 — IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
- Sason maculatum (Roewer, 1963) — Mariana IslandsMariana IslandsThe Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
, Caroline IslandsCaroline IslandsThe Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end... - Sason pectinatum Kulczynski, 1908 — New GuineaNew GuineaNew Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
- Sason robustumSason robustumSason robustum is a species of barychelid trapdoor spiders. It is only found in southern India, Sri Lanka and the Seychelles.Males are about 9 millimeters long, females almost eleven millimeters....
(O. P.-Cambridge, 1883) — IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Sri LankaSri LankaSri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, SeychellesSeychellesSeychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar.... - Sason sechellanum Simon, 1898 — Seychelles
- Sason sundaicumSason sundaicumSason sundaicum is a species of barychelid trapdoor spiders that is found on trees near the sea, usually closer than 100 meters, although distances of up to five kilometers have been observed. They build short nests with two opposing trapdoors, often attached to the bark of living trees, for...
Schwendinger, 2003 — ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Malaysia