# Gradungula

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradungula
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{{Short description|Genus of spiders}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = 
| image = Gradungula sorenseni - Sebastian Doak - 151718791.jpeg
| image_caption = ''Gradungula sorenseni''
| image2 = 
| image2_caption = 
| taxon = Gradungula sorenseni
| authority = Forster, 1955
| parent_authority = [Forster](/source/Ray_Forster), 1955<ref name=wsc />
}}

'''''Gradungula''''' is a [monotypic](/source/monotypic_taxon) [genus](/source/genus) of [South Pacific](/source/Oceania) [large-clawed spiders](/source/Gradungulidae) containing the single species, '''''Gradungula sorenseni'''''. It is only found in [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand).<ref name=wsc /> 

==Etymology==
The genus name is derived from [Latin](/source/Latin) ''{{lang|la|[gradus](/source/%3Awikt%3Agradus)}}'' "step" and ''{{lang|la|[ungula](/source/%3Awikt%3Aungula)}}'' "claw", referring to the enlarged front leg claws of this [species](/source/species). These claws also occur in other species of the family [Gradungulidae](/source/Gradungulidae).{{cn|date=October 2025}} The species is named after Jack Sorensen, the discoverer of the species.<ref name="forster1999" />

== Taxonomy ==
''Gradungula sorenseni'' was first described by [Raymond Robert Forster](/source/Raymond_Robert_Forster) in 1955.<ref name=Fors1955 />

== Distribution ==
''Gradungula sorenseni'' is distributed in forests throughout the western [South Island](/source/South_Island) of [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand) and throughout [Stewart Island](/source/Stewart_Island). <ref name="forster1987" />

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
  <ref name="wsc">{{cite web | url=https://wsc.nmbe.ch/genus/1012 | title=Gen. ''Gradungula'' Forster, 1955 | publisher=World Spider Catalog  | doi=10.24436/2 | accessdate=2025-10-29}}</ref>
  <ref name="forster1999">Forster, Ray; Forster, Lyn (1999). ''Spiders Of New Zealand And Their World Wide Kin''. Otago, New Zealand: University of Otago Press. pp. 119–124.</ref>
  <ref name="forster1987">Forster, R. R., Platnick, N. I. & Gray, M. R. (1987). A review of the spider superfamilies Hypochiloidea and Austrochiloidea (Araneae, Araneomorphae). ''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'' '''185''': 1-116.</ref>
  <ref name="Fors1955">{{cite journal|last=Forster|first=R. R.|year=1955|title=A new family of spiders of the sub-order Hypochilomorphae.|journal=Pacific Science|pages=277–285|volume=9|hdl=10125/12859}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* {{inaturalist taxon}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2993123|from2=Q2487775}}

Category:Gradungulidae
Category:Monotypic Araneomorphae genera
Category:Endemic spiders of New Zealand
Category:Taxa named by Raymond Robert Forster

{{Araneomorphae-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gradungula](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradungula) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradungula?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.