''Ceratogyrus'' 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 ...

tarantulas Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the Family (biology), family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Therap ...

found in southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. They are commonly called horned baboons for the foveal horn found on the

peltidium Peltidium is a prodorsal shield found in animals of the subphylum Chelicerata, in the phylum Arthropoda. In some groups (Schizomida, Palpigradi, Solpugida and Opiliones The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an Order (biology), order of arac ...

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

The horn of '' C. marshalli'' stands straight up about 1 cm in an adult. 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 (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 ...

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 Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

habitat during

droughts A drought is a period of 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, ...

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 Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

*'' Ceratogyrus brachycephalus'' Hewitt, 1919 –

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

*''

Ceratogyrus darlingi ''Ceratogyrus darlingi'' (commonly called burst horned baboon tarantula or African rear-horned baboon tarantula, synonym ''Ceratogyrus bechuanicus'') is a theraphosid spider from southern Africa, mainly Botswana and Lesotho. They reach a body l ...

'' Pocock, 1897 (

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 ...

) –

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

*''

Ceratogyrus dolichocephalus ''Ceratogyrus dolichocephalus'' is a species of tarantula. It is endemic to Zimbabwe. See also * List of Theraphosidae species This page lists all described genera and species of the spider family Theraphosidae. , the World Spider Catalog ...

'' Hewitt, 1919 –

*''

Ceratogyrus hillyardi ''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 g ...

'' (Smith, 1990) –

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

*'' Ceratogyrus marshalli'' Pocock, 1897 –

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

*''

Ceratogyrus meridionalis ''Ceratogyrus meridionalis'', commonly known as the Zimbabwe grey baboon tarantula or the grey mustard baboon, is a species of tarantula. It is found in Malawi and Mozambique. See also * List of Theraphosidae species This page lists all des ...

'' (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 g ...

'' Gallon, 2005 –

*''

Ceratogyrus pillansi ''Ceratogyrus'' is a genus of Theraphosidae, 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 Africa, ...

'' (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 g ...

'' Strand, 1906 –

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

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

'' *''Ceratogyrus cornuatus'' (De Wet & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 1991) = '' Ceratogyrus marshalli'' *''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 ''Pterinochilus chordatus'', or Kilimanjaro mustard baboon spider, is an old-world tarantula, first described in 1873 by Carl Eduard Adolph Gerstaecker. This species is found on the East side of the African continent, from South Kordofan in Suda ...

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