Sason (genus)

Taxobox
name = "Sason"


image_caption =
image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Arachnida
ordo = Araneae
subordo = Mygalomorphae
familia = Barychelidae
subfamilia = Sasoninae
genus = "Sason"
genus_authority = Simon, 1887
diversity_link = List of Barychelidae species#Sason
diversity = 8 species
type_species = "Sarpedon robustum"
type_species_authority = O. P-Cambridge, 1883
range_

range_map_width = 250px
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = See text.

"Sason" is a genus of mygalomorph bark-dwelling trapdoor spiders of the family Barychelidae. It is distributed throughout the Australasian region. The closest related species seems to be the monotypic "Paracenobiopelma gerecormophilum".Raven 1986]

Description

The small (five to ten millimeters long), compact, stout-legged spiders of the subfamily Sasoninae resemble those of the family Migidae 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 Gondwana.Schwendinger 2003]

Name

The genus name, an abbreviation of the biblical name Samson, 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.

pecies

* "Sason andamanicum" Simon, 1888 — Andaman Islands
* "Sason colemani" Raven, 1986 — Queensland
* "Sason hirsutum" Schwendinger, 2003 — Indonesia
* "Sason maculatum" (Roewer, 1963) — Mariana Islands, Caroline Islands
* "Sason pectinatum" Kulczynski, 1908 — New Guinea
* "Sason robustum" (O. P.-Cambridge, 1883) — India, Sri Lanka, Seychelles
* "Sason sechellanum" Simon, 1898 — Seychelles
* "Sason sundaicum" Schwendinger, 2003 — Thailand,Malaysia

Footnotes

References

* (1986): A revision of the spider genus "Sason" Simon (Sasoninae, Barychelidae, Mygalomorphae) and its historical biogeography. "The Journal of Arachnology" 14: 47-70. [http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v14_n1/JoA_v14_p47.pdf PDF]
* (2003): Two new species of the arboreal trapdoor spider genus "Sason" (Araneae: Barychelidae) from Southeast Asia. "The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology" 51(2): 197-207. [http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/51/51rbz197-207.pdf PDF]
* (2008): [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html The world spider catalog] , version 8.5. "American Museum of Natural History".