Avicularioidea is a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

of mygalomorph spiders, one of the two main clades into which mygalomorphs are divided (the other being the Atypoidea). It has been treated at the rank of superfamily.

Taxonomy

The division of the Mygalomorphae into two clades, Atypoidea and Avicularioidea, has been established in many studies. Avicularioidea has been treated as a superfamily (at one time including all mygalomorph spiders), although other authors have placed superfamilies, such as Theraphosoidea, within Avicularioidea. The name is based on the family name "Aviculariidae", a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

Theraphosidae Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

, ultimately deriving from the genus '' Avicularia''. The Atypoidea retain some vestiges of abdominal segmentation in the form of dorsal tergites; the Avicularioidea lack these. Relationships within the Avicularioidea are not settled . Some established families have been shown not to be

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

. In 2018, the family

Hexathelidae Hexathelidae is a family of mygalomorph spiders. It is one of a number of families and genera of spiders known as tunnelweb or funnel-web spiders. In 2018, the family was substantially reduced in size by genera being moved to three separate fam ...

was split up, and three new families created within the Avicularioidea: Atracidae,

Macrothelidae Macrothelidae is a family of mygalomorph spiders, split off from the family Hexathelidae in 2018. It contains three genera, '' Macrothele,'' '' Vacrothele'' and the extinct '' Promacrothele.'' Genera *'' Macrothele'' Ausserer, 1871 Europe, Afri ...

, and

Porrhothelidae ''Porrhothele'' is a genus of mygalomorph spiders endemic to New Zealand. They are the only members of the family Porrhothelidae. They were first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1892. Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was ...

. Further changes are possible in the future.

Families

The families included in the Avicularoidea are: *

Actinopodidae Actinopodidae is a family of mygalomorph spiders found in mainland Australia and South America usually in open forest. Species are most common in Queensland, Australia. It includes mouse spiders ('' Missulena'' species), whose bites, though rar ...

* Anamidae * Atracidae – Australian funnel-web spiders * Barychelidae – brushed trapdoor spiders * Bemmeridae * Ctenizidae * Cyrtaucheniidae – wafer trapdoor spiders *

Dipluridae The family Dipluridae, known as curtain-web spiders (or confusingly as funnel-web tarantulas, a name shared with other distantly related families) are a group of spiders in the infraorder Mygalomorphae, that have two pairs of booklungs, and chel ...

– curtain-web spiders * Entypesidae * Euagridae *

Euctenizidae The Euctenizidae (formerly Cyrtaucheniidae subfamily Euctenizinae) are a family of mygalomorph spiders. They are now considered to be more closely related to Idiopidae. Etymology The name comes from the Greek prefix (''eu-''), meaning "valu ...

* Halonoproctidae *

Idiopidae Idiopidae, also known as armored or spiny trapdoor spiders, is a family of mygalomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly o ...

– armoured trapdoor spiders * Ischnothelidae *

* Microhexuridae * Microstigmatidae * Migidae – tree trapdoor spiders * Nemesiidae * Paratropididae – baldlegged spiders *

* Pycnothelidae * Stasimopidae *

– tarantulas Also included is the extinct family Fossilcalcaridae (Cretaceous) and the ''

incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'' genera '' Cretamygale'' (Cretaceous) and '' Rosamygale'' (Triassic).

References

{{Araneae Mygalomorphae Arachnid superfamilies