Alireza Zamani (born 11 January 1994) is an Iranian

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and harvestmen. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly, the study of ...

and

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are give ...

Life and career

Zamani has been interested in

spiders Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species di ...

since childhood, when he spent most of his time collecting and rearing different species that he could collect from the family garden. Influenced by his high school biology teacher, he decided to study animal biology at the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...

in order to pursue his arachnological interests. Zamani has co-recorded over 430 new taxa for the

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

of Iran, and has described over 150 new species of spiders,

harvestmen The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an order of arachnids colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs. , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the total number of extan ...

whip spiders Amblypygi is an ancient order of arachnid chelicerate arthropods also known as African cave-dwelling spiders, whip spiders and tailless whip scorpions (not to be confused with whip scorpions or vinegaroons that belong to the related order Thelyp ...

and

pseudoscorpions Pseudoscorpions, also known as false scorpions or book scorpions, are small, scorpion-like arachnids belonging to the order Pseudoscorpiones, also known as Pseudoscorpionida or Chelonethida. Pseudoscorpions are generally beneficial to humans sin ...

, more noticeably '' Filistata maguirei'' and '' Pritha garfieldi'' of the family Filistatidae, named after the former Spider-Man actors

Tobey Maguire Tobias Vincent Maguire (born June 27, 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing the title character from Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007), a role he later reprised in '' Spider-Man: No Way Hom ...

and

Andrew Garfield Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Tony Award, a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. ''Time' ...

, ''

Lycosa aragogi ''Lycosa aragogi'' is a species of the araneomorph spider family Lycosidae endemic to Kerman Province, Iran. The female holotype measured 26 mm, (excluding the legs), with two black and three white stripes of setae on its cephalothorax, b ...

'' of the family

Lycosidae Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae (). They are robust and agile hunters with excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude, hunt alone, and do not spin webs. Some are opportunistic hunters, pouncing upon prey as they find it or c ...

, named after

Aragog Rubeus Hagrid () is a fictional character in the ''Harry Potter'' book series written by J. K. Rowling. He is introduced in ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' as a half-giant and half-human who is the gamekeeper and Keeper of Key ...

, the fictional spider from the '' Harry Potter'' novel series by

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

, '' Loureedia phoenixi'' of the family Eresidae, named after the actor

Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academ ...

, for a color pattern which resembles the movie character Joker from D.C. Comics, '' Scytodes kumonga'' of the family

Scytodidae Spitting spiders (Scytodidae) is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by John Blackwall in 1864. It contains over 250 species in five genera, of which ''Scytodes'' is the best-known. Description Like recluse spiders and coneweb sp ...

, named after the spider kaiju

Kumonga is a mutated, enormous spider-like kaiju that first appears in Toho's 1967 film ''Son of Godzilla'' and went on to appear in the films ''Destroy All Monsters'', ''All Monsters Attack'' (through stock footage) and ''Godzilla: Final Wars''. In the ...

, a recurring monster in the ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films prod ...

'' franchise by

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

(Kumonga's scientific name in

Godzilla Singular Point is a Japanese anime television series co-produced by the animation studios Bones and Orange. Licensed by Netflix and directed by Atsushi Takahashi, the series premiered on March 25, 2021 on Netflix in Japan, and on Tokyo MX and other channels ...

, ''Kumonga scytodes'', pays homage to this species), and '' Loxosceles coheni'' of the family

Sicariidae Sicariidae is a family of six-eyed venomous spiders known for their potentially necrotic bites. The family consists of three genera and about 160 species. Well known spiders in this family include the brown recluse spider and the six-eyed sand ...

, named after the singer-songwriter, poet and novelist

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

. Zamani has authored ''The Field Guide of Spiders and Scorpions of Iran'', which is the first

field guide A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the "field" or local area where such objects exi ...

devoted to the arachnids of

the Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europea ...

, containing information on more than 230 species of both orders. He is the senior author of the catalog of Iranian spiders and the country coordinator of Iran in 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 ...

project.

Eponymous taxa

*'' Anthocharis gruneri zamanii'' Naderi & Back, 2019 ( Lepidoptera:

Pieridae The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern regions of North America and Eurasia.DeVries P. J. in Le ...

)Naderi, A. & Back, W. (2019): Description of a new subspecies of ''Anthocharis gruneri'' Herrich-Schäffer,

851 __NOTOC__ Year 851 ( DCCCLI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Asia * Bagrat II Bagratuni, Armenian prince and leader of a rebellion against the Abbasi ...

''Anthocharis gruneri zamanii'' ssp. n., from the Southeast of Iran, Kerman (Lepidoptera, Pieridae). ''Nachrichten des entomologischen Vereins Apollo'' 40 *'' Tegenaria zamanii'' Marusik & Omelko, 2014 (Araneae: Agelenidae)

Selected publications

Book

* (2016): ''The Field Guide of Spiders and Scorpions of Iran''. Iranshenasi, 360 pp. [in Persian
Publisher's webpage

References

External links

ResearchGate profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zamani, Alireza Arachnologists Living people 1994 births University of Tehran alumni