Sason (spider)
| Sason | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Sason robustum, adult and its nest | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Mygalomorphae |
| Family: | Barychelidae |
| Genus: |
Sason Simon, 1887 |
| Type species | |
|
Sarpedon robustum O. P-Cambridge, 1883 |
|
| Species | |
|
See text. |
|
| Diversity | |
| 9 species | |
See text.
Sason is a genus of mygalomorph bark-dwelling trapdoor spiders of the family Barychelidae. It is distributed from the Seychelles through India to northern Australia. The closest related genus seems to be the monotypic Paracenobiopelma.
The small (five to ten millimeters long), compact, stout-legged spiders of the subfamily Sasoninae resemble those of the family Migidae in general appearance. Spiders of the genus Sason are strongly patterned. The males particularly have many short bristles on the glabrous carapace.
The genus was erected by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1883 for the species Sarpedon robustum. However, Eugène Simon discovered that the genus name Sarpedon was already preoccupied for a genus of beetles, and in 1887 proposed the replacement name Sason. Both Sason, an abbreviation of the biblical name Samson, and the earlier name based on Sarpedon, a legendary king at the siege of Troy, allude to the regal appearance of these spiders.
As of March 2016[update], the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species:
Most Sason species are endemic to rather small areas. Two factors are believed to have contributed to the distribution pattern of Sason. For one, some are found on small islands that emerged from the ocean floor in recent geological times, without ever having been connected to the mainland. These were likely inhabited by pregnant females surviving in floating logs. However, most of the speciation is believed to have occurred due to fragmentation of the former supercontinent Gondwana.
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