''Troglodiplura'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 ...

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 ...

spiders. Formerly

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

, in 2020, four new species were added to the genus. The genus and

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 ...

, '' Troglodiplura lowryi'', were first described by

Barbara York Main Barbara Anne York Main (27 January 1929 – 14 May 2019) Ann Jones (2019"Barbara York Main, Australia's spider woman and Wheatbelt advocate, author and poet dies"''Off Track'', Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Published May 23, 2019. Acces ...

in 1969. The genus has only been found in

, within the caves of the

Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of 'no' and 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its no ...

. The genus is considered one of the worlds most

troglomorphic Troglomorphism is the morphological adaptation of an animal to living in the constant darkness of caves, characterised by features such as loss of pigment, reduced eyesight or blindness, and frequently with attenuated bodies or appendages. The ter ...

spiders with every species known lacking eyes and having elongated appendages. ''Troglodiplura'' differs from other genera in the

family by having an almost round carapace, by having no eyes, and by the male's having a longer palpal tarsus.

Threats

'' T. lowryi'' is listed as "Vulnerable" under the Western Australian Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. However, this assessment was prior to the work of Mark Harvey and Michael Rix who state that all species of ''Troglodiplura'' would qualify as "Endangered" or "Critically Endangered" under

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

Criterion B (‘Geographic Range’). Additionally, some Nullarbor caves are experiencing major threats from human activities, with speleological features being damaged; animals and their homes being trampled and altered hydrological regimes due to changes in surface vegetation communities, and groundwater pollution.

Species

, the

World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...

accepted the following species: *'' Troglodiplura beirutpakbarai'' Harvey & Rix, 2020 – Australia (South Australia) *'' Troglodiplura challeni'' Harvey & Rix, 2020 – Australia (Western Australia) *'' Troglodiplura harrisi'' Harvey & Rix, 2020 – Australia (Western Australia) *'' Troglodiplura lowryi'' Main, 1969 (

) – Australia (Western Australia) *'' Troglodiplura samankunani'' Harvey & Rix, 2020 – Australia (Western Australia)

References

Anamidae Mygalomorphae genera Spiders of Australia Taxa named by Barbara York Main Taxa described in 1969 {{Anamidae-stub