Ceratogyrus marshalli

Ceratogyrus marshalli
Female Straight Horned Baboon (Ceratogyrus marshalli)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Theraphosidae
Genus: Ceratogyrus
Species:
C. marshalli
Binomial name
Ceratogyrus marshalli
(Pocock, 1897)
Synonyms
  • Ceratogyrus dolichocephalus
  • Ceratogyrus cornuatus

Ceratogyrus marshalli, also known as Straight Horned Baboon or Great Horned Baboon Tarantula, is a species of tarantula from the genus Ceratogyrus. It is found in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.[1] It was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1897, as half of the Ceratogyrus genus, they own a impressive horn in the carapace.

Description

Females live from 8 to 10 years, while males only live 3 to 4.[2] With a body length of 6 cm and a 15 cm legspan it is a fairly large species of Ceratogyrus.[3] Their carapace is black with some light brown striping, of course their being their namesake straight black horn. Their opisthosoma is light brown, covered in black spotting, although sometimes a fishbone pattern is apparent. Their legs are a light brown, or grey depending on visible conditions.

Habitat

They can be found in Harare, Zimbabwe, where this section will be referring to. This area is considered to have a subtropical highland climate. The average temperature here is 19°C, with average yearly rainfall of 805mm, since it is found 1500m above sea level, it has a surprisingly stable temperatures.[4][5][2]

Behavior

They are a very defensive spider, as most tarantulas it will first try to flee, if unable it will result in stridulation or a bite. They are burrowing and will make a vertical tunnel leading to a burrow in the end. At daytime they will most likely be in said burrow, and at night she will stay vigilant at the edge of her tunnel.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ "World spider catalog". NMBE - World Spider Catalog. Archived from the original on 2014-09-04.
  2. ^ a b c "Ceratogyrus marshalli". Theraphosidae. 2016-01-03. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  3. ^ "Theraphosidae Ceratogyrus". Theraphosidae. Archived from the original on 2017-11-23.
  4. ^ WMO. "World Weather Information Service". World Weather Information Service. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  5. ^ ""Klimatafel von Harare-Kutsaga (Salisbury) / Simbabwe" Baseline climate means from stations all over the world" (PDF). DWD. Retrieved June 19, 2022.