{{Short description|Genus of spiders}} {{Good article}} {{Speciesbox | name = | image = Trogloraptor marchingtoni (Male).jpg | image_caption = Male ''Trogloraptor marchingtoni'' | image2 = Trogloraptor marchingtoni (Female); captive specimen.jpg | image2_caption = Female ''Trogloraptor marchingtoni'' | taxon = Trogloraptor marchingtoni | authority = Griswold, Audisio & Ledford, 2012<ref name=WSC_f107 /> | grandparent_authority = Griswold, Audisio & Ledford, 2012<ref name=WSC_f107 /> | parent_authority = Griswold, Audisio & Ledford, 2012<ref name=WSC_f107 /> }}
'''''Trogloraptor''''' is a genus of large spiders found in the caves of southwestern Oregon. It is the sole genus in the family '''Trogloraptoridae''', and includes only one species, '''''Trogloraptor marchingtoni'''''.<ref name=WSC_f107 /> These spiders are predominantly yellow-brown in color with a maximum leg span of {{convert|3|in|cm|abbr=on}}. They are remarkable for having hook-like claws on the raptorial last segments of their legs.
''Trogloraptor'' belongs to one of only three new spider families described since 1990. The specific name is in honor of the amateur cave biologist and deputy sheriff Neil Marchington.
==Discovery== The spiders were first collected in 2010 by Geo Graening, Neil Marchington, Ron Davis and Daniel Snyder, cave conservationists from the Western Cave Conservancy.<ref name=ZK2012 /> They were described in 2012 by a research team consisting of arachnologists Charles Griswold, Tracy Audisio and Joel Ledford of the California Academy of Sciences. The male holotype was recovered from the M2 cave near Grants Pass, Oregon, on July 29, 2010. The female holotype was recovered from a cave in Josephine County, Oregon, on September 16, 2010.<ref name=ZK2012 />
Lead researcher Griswold claimed that ''Trogloraptor'' might explain the legends of giant cave spiders in the area. The discovery is also notable because only two other new spider families have been described since 1990. The American arachnologist Norman Platnick commented that it was "...as fascinating to arachnologists as the discovery of a new dinosaur is to paleontologists."<ref name="oap" />
==Taxonomy== ''Trogloraptor'' includes only one species, ''Trogloraptor marchingtoni'', and is the only genus in the monotypic family Trogloraptoridae. It was initially suggested that ''Trogloraptor'' was a primitive member of the six-eyed spider superfamily Dysderoidea.<ref name=ZK2012 /> However, ''Trogloraptor'' exhibits several unique features, including primitive respiratory systems, that justify its assignment to a separate family. The family probably diverged from other spiders about 130 million years ago, which would make it another notable relict taxon from North America.<ref name=ZK2012 /><ref name="sa" /> A 2014 study based on ribosomal DNA found that ''Trogloraptor'' fell outside the Dysderoidea and concluded that it should not be included in this clade.<ref name=deBuFannHenrGaub14 />
The specific name is in honor of Neil Marchington. The generic name ''Trogloraptor'' means "cave robber", in reference to the spider's habitat and hooked raptorial tarsi.<ref name=ZK2012 /><ref name=SFC20120815 />
==Distribution== Additional live specimens recovered in 2010 and 2011 from Oregon were all found deep inside caves. Except for a single juvenile specimen recovered from the understory debris of old growth redwood forests of northwest California, none have been found outside the caves. This specimen has different markings than ''T. marchingtoni'' and may represent a new undescribed species.<ref name=ZK2012 />
The family Trogloraptoridae may have had a wider distribution given that redwood forests encompassed a far greater area in North America during the Pliocene (about 5 mya). Other species may still be present in other caves.<ref name="sa" />
==Description== [[File:Trogloraptor marchingtoni, female tarsus of leg IV.jpg|thumb|Hook-like claws on the raptorial tarsus IV of a female specimen]]
Adult ''Trogloraptor'' have six eyes and a body length of about {{convert|7|to|10|mm|in|abbr=on}} in males and {{convert|8|to|10|mm|in|abbr=on}} in females.<ref name=ZK2012 /> With its legs outstretched, the spider can reach up to {{convert|3|in|cm|abbr=on}} in length.<ref name="oap" />
The entire body is yellow-brown, except for a dark brown V-shaped mark on the cephalothorax, the orange-brown chelicerae, and the purple-brown abdomen (opisthosoma) with a series of faint light-colored chevron markings. The cephalothorax carapace is pear-shaped with a heart-shaped sternum. The abdomen is oval and sparsely covered with small bristles (setae). The males possess enlarged piriform pedipalps.<ref name=ZK2012 /><ref name="SFC20120815" />
The spiders are unique in the flexible and teethed hook-like claws on the last segments (tarsus) of their legs. These elongated claws resemble those of spiders in the family Gradungulidae of Australia and New Zealand, but the two families are only distantly related.<ref name=ZK2012 /> Hooked tarsal claws are also present to a lesser extent in the unrelated genera ''Doryonychus'' of Tetragnathidae, ''Hetrogriffus'' of Thomisidae and ''Celaenia'' of Araneidae.<ref name="gillespie" />
==Ecology== ''Trogloraptor'' spin simple webs with only a few strands, hung from the roofs of caves. Griswold ''et al.'' stated that the claws may have a significant function in capturing prey. Similar to the Nelson cave spider of New Zealand (''Spelungula cavernicola'', a gradungulid), ''Trogloraptor'' probably dangle upside down from their webs, snatching at passing flying insects with their claws.<ref name=DN /> However their exact prey remains unknown. Captured live specimens were raised in climate-controlled laboratory conditions in an effort to find out. These specimens were offered moths, crickets and other spiders as food; but these were declined and the specimens starved after two weeks. This may indicate a preference for very specific prey.<ref name=ZK2012 /><ref name=sp />
Like most spiders, ''Trogloraptor'' possess venom glands. However, the venom is not known to be harmful to humans. The spiders themselves are very shy and unaggressive. They immediately flee illumination.<ref name="sa" />
==See also== {{div col}} * Troglobite, cave-dwelling animals * List of troglobites * Cave conservation * ''Tayshaneta myopica'', the tooth cave spider of Texas * ''Meta menardi'', the European cave spider * ''Tartarus'', a genus of ancient cave spiders from Australia * Dysderidae, woodlouse hunters * Segestriidae, tube-dwelling spiders * ''Cryptomaster behemoth'', arachnid discovered in southwest Oregon {{div col end}}
==References== <references> <ref name="deBuFannHenrGaub14">{{Citation |last1=de Busschere |first1=Charlotte |last2=Fannes |first2=Wouter |last3=Henrard |first3=Arnaud |last4=Gaublomme |first4=Eva |last5=Jocqué |first5=Rudy |last6=Baert |first6=Léon |year=2014 |title=Unravelling the goblin spiders puzzle: rDNA phylogeny of the family Oonopidae (Araneae) |journal=Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny |volume=72 |pages=177–192 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264083120 |access-date=2015-10-30 |name-list-style=amp }}</ref> <ref name="DN">{{cite news|title=New family of spiders found in Oregon cave|date=August 18, 2012|newspaper=Daily Herald}}</ref> <ref name="gillespie">{{Cite journal | last1 = Gillespie | first1 = R. G. | title = Predation Through Impalement of Prey: The Foraging Behavior of ''Doryonychus raptor'' (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) | doi = 10.1155/1991/84789 | journal = Psyche: A Journal of Entomology | volume = 98 | issue = 4 | pages = 337–350 | year = 1991 | url = http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/psyche/1991/084789.pdf| doi-access = free }}</ref> <ref name="oap">{{cite web|url=http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/3358-new-spider-family-discovered.html|title=Rare Discovery: Hook-Legged Spider Found in Oregon Cave|author=Main, Douglas|date=August 17, 2012|publisher=OurAmazingPlanet|access-date=August 18, 2012|archive-date=September 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120909004229/http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/3358-new-spider-family-discovered.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> <ref name="sa">{{cite web|url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/gallery_directory.cfm?photo_id=1AC9C7D1-F12B-0179-DF7FE9529D8EF93D|title=Scientists Discover New Cave Spider Species... with Claws!|author=Daisy Yuhas|date=August 17, 2012|publisher=Scientific American|access-date=August 18, 2012}}</ref> <ref name="SFC20120815">{{cite news | title = New spider family identified in Oregon | first = David | last = Perlman | date = August 15, 2012 | url = http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/New-spider-family-identified-in-Oregon-3791910.php | work = San Francisco Chronicle }}</ref> <ref name="sp">{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/trogloraptor-forscher-entdeckten-neue-spinnenart-in-den-usa-a-850623.html|title=Biologen entdecken neue Spinnen-Familie mit Klauen|language=de|date=August 17, 2012|newspaper=Spiegel Online|access-date=August 18, 2012}}</ref> <ref name="WSC_f107">{{citation |title=Family: Trogloraptoridae Griswold, Audisio & Ledford, 2012 |work=World Spider Catalog |publisher=Natural History Museum Bern |url=http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/family/107 |access-date=2015-10-30 }}</ref> <ref name="ZK2012">{{Cite journal | last1 = Griswold | first1 = C. | last2 = Audisio | first2 = T. | last3 = Ledford | first3 = J. | title = An extraordinary new family of spiders from caves in the Pacific Northwest (Araneae, Trogloraptoridae, new family) | doi = 10.3897/zookeys.215.3547 | journal = ZooKeys | issue = 215 | pages = 77–102| year = 2012 | pmid = 22936872| pmc = 3428790| doi-access = free | bibcode = 2012ZooK..215...77G }}</ref> </references>
==External links== * {{inaturalist taxon}}
*[http://www.westerncaves.org/ Western Cave Conservancy]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q18642907}}
Category:Cave spiders Category:Araneomorphae Category:Monotypic Araneomorphae genera Category:Endemic spiders of the United States Category:Biota of Oregon Category:Fauna of the Northwestern United States Category:Taxa named by Charles E. Griswold