Currently, there are more than 2,300 specimens of tarantulas stored in the Auburn University Museum of Natural History (AUMNH).
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The males have deathly black bodies.
“I’m not surprised that so many previously described species were found to be invalid”, said Marshal Hedin, a professor of biology at San Diego State University who was not involved with the work but described it as “rigorous and much-needed”.
Hamilton, the guy who found the new species, also has a Johnny Cash tattoo, so there was really no doubt regarding the name of the new spider.
“It’s found along the foothills of the western Sierra Nevada mountains, and one of the places that’s there is Folsom Prison”, Hamilton said. Chris Hamilton, lead author of the study, said though tarantulas are known well and easily recognized by public from their appearances in popular culture, very less is known about their distribution, diversity and how they lived in the wild.
Prior to this study, more than 50 different species of tarantulas were known in the United States, but they were poorly organized and some were misidentified as being different species when they were actually the same.
The researchers studied some 3000 specimens during their task in what they called the most exhaustive taxonomic study ever undertaken in the field.
Hamilton marveled at the possibility of finding a new species in his own back yard. There has been addition of 14 new spiders, which made researchers to come up with many more names, but A. johnnycashi was the only one which was named after celebrity. It wasn’t until a genomic analysis was carried out that scientists knew they were dealing with different species. And the number includes the 14 new species found by him and his team, all completely new to the scientific world.
“With the Earth in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, it is astonishing how little we know about our planet’s biodiversity, even for charismatic groups such as tarantulas”. That’s right – this spider, which was discovered near California’s Folsom State Prison, is named after country legend Johnny Cash.
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Tarantulas within the Aphonopelma genus are some of the most unique in the United States due to the extreme size differences between species – some have a leg span about as long as the face on an American quarter, whereas others reach six inches in leg span. “These fragile habitats are threatened by increased urbanization, recreation, and climate change”.
