Based on percentages of undescribed species collected during intensive recent sampling campaigns in South America, tropical Africa, and the Caribbean, the current global total number of pholcid ...species is estimated to range from about 4,000 to 5,000. With the current rate of descriptions of about 570 pholcid species per decade, this suggests that a global inventory of the family could be completed within a few decades. However, I argue that a complete (or near-complete) inventory is neither realistic nor necessary and that knowing the majority of species of a particular group will answer most questions on that taxon's biology, while being a manageable task. At current rates of description, the majority of pholcid species might be known within 10–20 years.
The development and present status of arachnology at the Senckenberg-Museum (Frankfurt) are critically reviewed. Extended periods of care and maintenance were followed, from 1955 onwards, by ...flourishing decades, including considerable enlargement of the collections. One of the most complete libraries in the field originated from this time. Progress culminated in the arrangement of meetings and finally of international congresses, including the foundation of what is now the International Society of Arachnology (formerly C.I.D.A.). Data on some relevant authors such as Roewer and Wiehle are included.
The history and current work of the project Fauna Europaea is outlined. The different sources used for building up the database and the efforts to keep it updated are described. Available models of ...national checklists are discussed and the ideal checklist is described. The double use of the database as a matrix behind the official site of Fauna Europaea – as well as a directly visible document on the website of the European Society of Arachnology – are indicated and the differences in transparency, links to literature sources, and facilities such as distribution maps and calculations of numbers of scores per species or of species per country are discussed. The future of the project is briefly outlined. The need for a European identification tool for spiders is stressed.
The study of fossil spider species Saupe, Erin E.; Selden, Paul A.
Comptes rendus. Palevol,
04/2011, Letnik:
10, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The definition of what constitutes a species has been an area of contention in biology since before the time of Darwin. Here, we discuss concepts of species in regards to the Araneae and particularly ...focus on diagnosing fossils. Spiders are primarily diagnosed by their copulatory organs, which may be difficult to observe in fossils due to a number of confounding factors, thus potentially hindering identification and systematic classification. However, despite potential difficulties, fossils should and must be studied alongside extant Araneae in order to garner a full understanding of the evolutionary history of this megadiverse group.
La définition de ce qui constitue une espèce a été un domaine de controverse en biologie, depuis l’époque de Darwin. Dans cet article, est discuté le concept d’espèce dans le cas des Araneae, en se focalisant plus particulièrement sur les fossiles caractéristiques. La diagnose des araignées se fait essentiellement par les organes copulatoires, difficiles à observer chez les araignées fossiles, du fait du nombre de facteurs de confusion, ce qui gêne potentiellement l’identification et la classification systématique. Cependant, en dépit de ces difficultés potentielles, les fossiles devraient être étudiés en fonction des Araneae existants pour parvenir à une compréhension totale de l’histoire évolutive de ce groupe très diversifié.
Cândido de Mello Leitão (1886-1948) started his career as a pediatrician. Being extremely dedicated to the study of spiders, he became one of the greatest arachnologists of his time, and earned wide ...recognition from his peers. The present article deals with some aspects of his career, while trying to address the question of how one could become a biologist in Brazil in the first half of the 20th century, when there were no graduation courses in biology and the profession held no official recognition. Research conducted on books, newspapers and de Mello Leitão's personal papers has shown how this specialization came to being at the crossroads of practical experiences in various scientific institutions, national and international collaboration, and the changing social-historic conditions. A spider expert, de Mello Leitão had great knowledge of their webs that allowed him to become a biologist. Amid these personal and institutional relationships, he built and spread knowledge, and carved a role for himself, his colleagues, the institutions he worked in and the biology he practiced. // ABSTRACT IN PORTUGUESE: Cândido de Mello Leitão (1886-1948) iniciou sua carreira como médico pediatra. Sua extrema dedicação ao estudo das aranhas o tornou um dos maiores aracnólogos de seu tempo, amplamente reconhecido por seus pares. Este artigo analisa alguns aspectos de sua trajetória profissional norteado pela seguinte pergunta: como um biólogo se formava na primeira metade do século XX no Brasil, época em que inexistiam cursos específicos de ciências biológicas e a profissão não era oficialmente reconhecida? Os resultados da pesquisa realizada em livros, jornais e documentos pessoais de Mello Leitão mostram como essa especialização surgiu no entrecruzamento entre as experiências práticas vividas em várias instituições científicas, as relações de colaboração nacionais e internacionais e o devir das condições sociais e históricas. Estudioso de aranhas, Mello Leitão era realmente grande conhecedor de redes, e foi nelas que se formou. No seio dessas relações pessoais e institucionais, construiu e divulgou conhecimentos, projetou papéis para si e seus colegas, para as diversas instituições nas quais atuou e para a biologia que praticou.
On the occasion of the anniversary of C.A. Clerck's book "Swedish spiders" the paper deals with the beginnings of spider taxonomy, Clerck's life (1709-1765) and work, and P. Bonnet's successful ...campaign for the validation of species names given by Clerck.
The personal history of forgotten Japanese arachnologist, Kyukichi Kishida (1888–1968) is described for the first time based on information collected from the literature and through interviews with ...the late Prof. Seikichi Kishida (1931–2002), the fourth son of K. Kishida. A complete list of Kishida's works on spiders is provided. Much confusion resulted from the species and higher taxa descriptions or species designations made by Kishida. In many cases he first proposed a new name for an undescribed species found but left its description to his followers. Therefore, some species were really described by another person, while many nomina nuda were produced. A revision of each taxon with systematical and nomenclatural problems will be given in forthcoming parts of this serial (in preparation).
During a survey carried out between 1994 and 2002 165 specimens of jumping spiders (29 species) from 15 localities in Croatia were recorded and investigated. For most species, short ecological data ...are given. A new combination is proposed: Saitis imitata (Simon, 1862) ex Pseudeuophrys. The epigyne and its internal structure of S. imitata are described in detail and illustrated for the first time. The species Saitis sanctaeeufemiae Kolosváry, 1938 was excluded from the fauna of Croatia. Marpissa nivoyi is reported as new for the territory of Croatia.
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