In Memoriam: Giraldo Alayón García

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  In Memoriam: Giraldo Alayón García -  Photo © Facebook/National Museum of Natural History of Cuba In Memoriam: Giraldo Alayón García The arachnological community mourns the loss of Giraldo Alayón García, a Cuban zoologist whose work helped bring the spiders of Cuba and the wider Caribbean into clearer scientific view. As a researcher and curator at Cuba’s National Museum of Natural History, Dr. Alayón devoted decades to studying arachnids. His publications on spider taxonomy, evolution, and biogeography gave other researchers a stronger foundation for understanding the region’s biodiversity. He also shared that knowledge through teaching and scientific exchange far beyond Cuba. For those of us who care about taxonomy, his legacy is a reminder of the patient work behind every species description: examining specimens, recording differences, and preserving knowledge that others can build upon. His contributions will continue to guide the study of Caribbean spiders for years to ...

Phylogenomic placement and revision of Iranattus Prószyński, 1992 jumping spiders (Salticidae, Plexippini, Plexippina)

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Phylogenomic placement and revision of Iranattus Prószyński, 1992 jumping spiders (Salticidae, Plexippini, Plexippina)

Abstract

The jumping spider genus Iranattus Prószyński, 1992, distributed from Africa to southwestern Asia, has been placed within the Harmochirina because of their male palp structures and elongated third legs. Here, we present phylogenomic evidence that it belongs instead to the subtribe Plexippina, further supported by the presence of two coupling pockets in the female epigyne. In this study, we redescribe I. principalis (Wesołowska, 2000) and I. rectangularis Prószyński, 1992. Additionally, the female of I. rectangularis, the type species of the genus, is described for the first time, and we report its range extension east to India.

Marathe K, Tripathi R, Sudhikumar AV, Maddison WP (2024) Phylogenomic placement and revision of Iranattus Prószyński, 1992 jumping spiders (Salticidae, Plexippini, Plexippina). Zoosystematics and Evolution 100(2): 531-542. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.100.122034