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, harvestmen, ticks, and mites. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly ...

and

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

Life and career

Zamani has been interested in

spiders Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, 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 (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

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

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

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

harvestmen The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an Order (biology), order of arachnids, Common name, colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs (see below). , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered w ...

, whip spiders 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 bec ...

, more noticeably '' Filistata maguirei'' and '' Pritha garfieldi'' of the family

Filistatidae Crevice weaver spiders (Filistatidae) comprise cribellate spiders with features that have been regarded as " primitive" for araneomorph spiders. They are weavers of funnel or tube webs. The family contains 18 genera and more than 120 described s ...

, named after the former

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

actors

Tobey Maguire Tobias Vincent Maguire (born 27 June 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for starring as Peter Parker (2002 film series character), Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in film#Sam Raimi's trilogy, ''Spider-Man'' tr ...

and

Andrew Garfield Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. After his breakout role in '' Boy A'' (2007), he came to international attention with the supporting role of Eduardo Saverin in the drama ''The Social Network'' ...

, ''

Lycosa aragogi ''Lycosa aragogi'' is a species of the Araneomorphae, araneomorph spider family Wolf spiders, Lycosidae Endemism, endemic to Kerman province, Iran. The female holotype measured 26mm, (excluding the legs), with two black and three white stripes o ...

'' of the family

Lycosidae Wolf spiders are members of the Family (biology), family Lycosidae (), named for their robust and agile hunting skills and excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude, hunt alone, and usually do not spin spider web, webs. Some are opportunis ...

, named after

Aragog The following is a list of characters from the ''Harry Potter'' series. Each character appears in at least one ''Harry Potter''–related book or story by J. K. Rowling. These books and stories include the seven original ''Harry Potter'' nove ...

, the fictional spider from the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' novel series by

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...

, ''

Loureedia phoenixi ''Loureedia phoenixi'' is a species of spider discovered in Iran in 2020. The species is categorized as a velvet spider. The spider is described as reclusive. It is named after the musician Lou Reed and actor Joaquin Phoenix, for a color patte ...

'' of the family

Eresidae Velvet spiders (family Eresidae) are a small group (about 100 species in 9 genera) of spiders almost entirely limited to the Old World, with the exception of one species known from Brazil. In Europe, some are commonly called the ladybird spider ...

, named after the actor

Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix ( ; ; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. Widely described as one of the most preeminent actors of his generation and known for Joaquin Phoenix filmography, his roles as dark, unconventional and eccentric charact ...

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

kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' ...

Kumonga is a 1967 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Jun Fukuda, with special effects by Sadamasa Arikawa, under the supervision of Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the eighth film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise. It s ...

, a recurring monster in the ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

'' franchise by

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

(Kumonga's scientific name in

Godzilla Singular Point is a Japanese anime television series directed by Atsushi Takahashi and written by Toh EnJoe. Produced by the animation studios Bones and Orange and licensed by Netflix, the series premiered on March 25, 2021, on Netflix in Japan, and on Tok ...

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

Sicariidae Sicariidae is a family (biology), family of six-eyed spider bite, venomous spiders known for their potentially necrotic bites. The family consists of three genus, genera and about 160 species. Well known spiders in this family include the Loxosce ...

, named after the singer-songwriter, poet and novelist

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

. 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 funga) 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 suc ...

devoted to the arachnids of

the Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, containing information on more than 230 species of both

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

. 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 Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

Pieridae The Pieridae are a large family (biology), family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from Afrotropical realm, tropical Africa and Indomalayan realm, tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern ...

)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 of the Julian calendar. Events By place Asia * Bagrat II Bagratuni, Armenian prince and leader of a rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate, is captured by 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