''Ceratogyrus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

tarantulas Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

found in southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. They are commonly called horned baboons for the foveal horn found on the peltidium in some species.

Diagnosis

They are readily distinguished from other African theraphosid genera by the combined presence of a retrolateral cheliceral scopula, composed of plumose, stridulatory setae, and the strongly procurved fovea. The fovea is typically strongly procurved and in some species surrounds a distinct protuberance. This protuberance may take the form of a simple posterior extension of the caput, a low-set plug or a prominent, discrete conical projection. All ''Ceratogyrus'' species possess a pale yellow anteriorly placed, transverse, sub-abdominal band. This feature is not distinct in other Harpatirinae except '' Augacephalus junodi''. The absence of dense, ventral femoral fringes on the palpi and legs I and II distinguish ''Ceratogyrus spp.'' from female '' A. junodi''.

Horn function

'' C. marshalli'' features the biggest horn, where it stands straight up about 1 cm. There are several probable functions for this horn: according to a study by Rick C. West in 1986, it provides an increased surface for the attachment of the dorsal dilator muscle, which aids in drawing in liquefied food into the sucking stomach at a faster rate; this way, the

spider 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 ...

can retreat to a safe place faster. It also increases the area for the midgut diverticula to expand during times of nutrient and water availability, analogous to a camel's hump, helping it to survive in its

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...

habitat during

droughts A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

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: *'' Ceratogyrus attonitifer'' Engelbrecht, 2019 –

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

*''

Ceratogyrus brachycephalus ''Ceratogyrus brachycephalus'' (greater horned baboon tarantula) is an old world terrestrial tarantula that grows to a legspan of up to 5 inches (12 cm).EightGreater Horned Baboon The common name comes from the "horn", or protuberance, ...

'' Hewitt, 1919 –

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

*''

Ceratogyrus darlingi ''Ceratogyrus'' is a genus of tarantulas found in southern Africa. They are commonly called horned baboons for the foveal horn found on the peltidium in some species. Diagnosis They are readily distinguished from other African theraphosid ...

'' Pocock, 1897 (

type species In 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 species that contains the biological type specime ...

) –

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

*'' Ceratogyrus dolichocephalus'' Hewitt, 1919 –

*'' Ceratogyrus hillyardi'' (Smith, 1990) –

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

*''

Ceratogyrus marshalli ''Ceratogyrus marshalli'', also known as Straight Horned Baboon or Great Horned Baboon Tarantula, is a species of tarantula from the genus ''Ceratogyrus''. It is found in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in ...

'' Pocock, 1897 –

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

*'' Ceratogyrus meridionalis'' (Hirst, 1907) –

*''

Ceratogyrus paulseni ''Ceratogyrus'' is a genus of tarantulas found in southern Africa. They are commonly called horned baboons for the foveal horn found on the peltidium in some species. Diagnosis They are readily distinguished from other African theraphosid ...

'' Gallon, 2005 –

*'' Ceratogyrus pillansi'' (Purcell, 1902) –

*''

Ceratogyrus sanderi ''Ceratogyrus'' is a genus of tarantulas found in southern Africa. They are commonly called horned baboons for the foveal horn found on the peltidium in some species. Diagnosis They are readily distinguished from other African theraphosid ...

'' Strand, 1906 –

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

;In synonymy *''Ceratogyrus bechuanicus'' (Purcell, 1902) = ''

'' *''Ceratogyrus cornuatus'' (De Wet & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 1991) = ''

'' *''Ceratogyrus schultzei'' Purcell, 1908 = ''

'' ;Transferred to other genera *''Ceratogyrus ezendami'' Gallon, 2001 → '' Augacephalus ezendami'' *''Ceratogyrus nigrifemur'' (Schmidt, 1995) → '' Augacephalus junodi'' *''Ceratogyrus raveni'' (Smith, 1990) → '' Pterinochilus chordatus''

References

* Pocock, R.I. (1897). On the spiders of the suborder Mygalomorphae from the Ethiopian Region, contained in the collection of the British Museum. ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' 1897:724-774. * West, R.C. (1986). ''Ceratogyrus''. ''Journal of the British Tarantula Society'' 1(4):79-80. * Gallon, R.C. (2001). Revision of the ''Ceratogyrus'' spp. formerly included in ''Coelogenium'' (Araneae: Theraphosidae, Harpactirinae). ''Mygalomorph'' 2:1-20
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* Messenger, P. (2004). Captive Breeding ''Ceratogyrus meridionalis''. ''J. Brit. Tarantula Soc.'' 19(4):113-117
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* Gallon, R.C. (2005c). A new species of theraphosid spider from Southern Africa (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Harpactirinae) with distributional notes on other harpactirines. ''Bull. Br. arachnol. Soc.'' 13(5):179-184
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(''C. paulseni'')

External links

* Photos of thre
''Ceratogyrus''
species in gallery o
tarantulas
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1813011 Theraphosidae Spiders of Africa Theraphosidae genera