Austrochilidae

Austrochilidae is a small spider family with nine species in two genera.^[1] Austrochilus and Thaida are endemic to the Andean forest of central and southern Chile and adjacent Argentina.^[2]

Web of Austrochilidae species

Austrochilidae
Thaida chepu, male eyes
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Austrochilidae Zapfe, 1955
Genera
Austrochilus Gertsch & Zapfe, 1955 Thaida Karsch, 1880
Diversity
2 genera, 9 species

Taxonomy

As of November 2021^[update], two genera are placed in the family Austrochilidae: Austrochilus and Thaida, found in Chile and Argentina.^[3] 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".^[4] However, the family name "Thaididae" is preoccupied, being first used for a family of gastropods in 1887.^[3] A single family was accepted by Forster et al. in 1987, under the name "Austrochilidae".^[2] Molecular phylogenetic studies agree in placing the two genera as basal members of the Araneomorphae, although the precise details and the family placement are not yet agreed.^[5]

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.^[5]

Araneomorphae	Hypochilidae + Filistatidae + Synspermiata Archoleptoneta Gradungulidae Leptoneta Austrochilus + Thaidu remaining Araneomorphae

Species

Main article: List of Austrochilidae species

As of November 2021^[update], the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera:^[1]

• Austrochilus Gertsch & Zapfe, 1955 — Chile, Argentina
• Thaida Karsch, 1880 — Chile, Argentina

See also

• List of Austrochilidae species

References

1. "Family: Austrochilidae Zapfe, 1955". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
2. Forster, R.R.; Platnick, N.I. & Gray, M.R. (1987). "A review of the spider superfamilies Hypochiloidea and Austrochiloidea (Araneae, Araneomorphae)" (PDF). American Museum of Natural History. 185 (1). Retrieved 2017-05-11.
3. "Family Austrochilidae Zapfe,1955". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
4. Lehtinen, P.T. (1967). "Classification of the cribellate spiders and some allied families, with notes on the evolution of the suborder Araneomorpha". Annales Zoologici Fennici. 4: 199–468.
5. Wheeler, Ward C.; Coddington, Jonathan A.; Crowley, Louise M.; Dimitrov, Dimitar; Goloboff, Pablo A.; Griswold, Charles E.; Hormiga, Gustavo; Prendini, Lorenzo; Ramírez, Martín J.; Sierwald, Petra; Almeida-Silva, Lina; Alvarez-Padilla, Fernando; Arnedo, Miquel A.; Benavides Silva, Ligia R.; Benjamin, Suresh P.; Bond, Jason E.; Grismado, Cristian J.; Hasan, Emile; Hedin, Marshal; Izquierdo, Matías A.; Labarque, Facundo M.; Ledford, Joel; Lopardo, Lara; Maddison, Wayne P.; Miller, Jeremy A.; Piacentini, Luis N.; Platnick, Norman I.; Polotow, Daniele; Silva-Dávila, Diana; Scharff, Nikolaj; Szűts, Tamás; Ubick, Darrell; Vink, Cor J.; Wood, Hannah M. & Zhang, Junxia (2016). "The spider tree of life: phylogeny of Araneae based on target-gene analyses from an extensive taxon sampling". Cladistics. 33 (6): 574–616. doi:10.1111/cla.12182. PMID 34724759. S2CID 35535038.

• Grismado, C. J., L. Lopardo & N. I. Platnick (2003). A new species of Austrochilus from Chile (Araneae, Austrochilidae, Austrochilinae). J. Arachnol. 31: 148–150. PDF (A. forsteri)