''Teyl'' is a genus of

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

s in the family

Anamidae Anamidae is a family of Australian mygalomorph spiders. It was first described as a tribe by Simon in 1889, then raised to the subfamily Anaminae of the family Nemesiidae, before being raised to a family level by Opatova et al. in 2020. Taxonomy ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is one of the genera that was placed in the former

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Teylini (now included in the

).Main 2004 The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

is ''T. luculentus''.

Description

Species of this genus range from 2 to 10 mm in

carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the unde ...

length.

Species

it contains seven species: * '' Teyl damsonoides'' (Main, 1983) — Western Australia * '' Teyl harveyi'' Main, 2004 — Victoria * '' Teyl heuretes'' Huey, Rix, Wilson, Hillyer & Harvey, 2019 — Western Australia * '' Teyl luculentus'' Main, 1975 — Western Australia * '' Teyl vancouveri'' (Main, 1985) — Western Australia * '' Teyl walkeri'' Main, 2004 — Victoria * '' Teyl yeni'' Main, 2004 — Victoria

Distribution

The genus occurs in south-western Australia as well as the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after e ...

and western

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. Its distribution was likely fragmented in southern Australia during the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

inundation of central Australia. The

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

of the genus in south-western Australia has probably resulted from the continuing isolation of relictual habitats which have retained aspects of

Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...

n conditions.

Names

The genus name is an Australian Aboriginal word meaning a brightly coloured stone - thus the reference is to the glabrous (shiny) bright texture of the spider's integument. The specific name ''luculentus'' of the type species refers to the shining yellowish colour.Main 1975 ''T. harvey'' is named as a tribute to Mark S. Harvey, ''T. walkeri'' after Ken Walker, ''T. yeni'' after Alan Yen.

Footnotes

References

* Main, B.Y. (1975): The citrine spider; a new genus of trapdoor spider (Mygalomorphae: Dipluridae). ''The Western Australian Naturalist'' 13(4): 73–78. * Main, Barbara York (2004): Biosystematics of Australian mygalomorph spiders: descriptions of three species of ''Teyl'' from Victoria (Araneae: Nemesiidae). ''Memoirs of Museum Victoria'' 61(1): 47–55
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q2713030 Anamidae Spiders of Australia Mygalomorphae genera