[Q] List of Species

[14th]

Good day!

Hi to all!

I was wondering if there's someone here who could give me a complete / updated list of all the Tarantulas and Scorpions available?
Or if there's anyone who could give me a link on where I could find this kind of list?

I'm trying to write something about this beloved creatures and I would like to study them further.
I sure hope someone could light me up with something here.

I'd surely appreciate it.
Thanks!

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I don't see any general section for this kind of query. I hope I'm not violating anything.

 

[awiec]

The world spider catalog might be your best bet for tarantulas that are officially described, honestly I don't think there is a complete list anywhere as you have tons of animals in the hobby who are not described yet. Scorpions I know little about but I think the situation is the same as tarantulas.

 

[Poec54]

You can't go by the two official lists, they're both full of poor descriptions (that used obsolete characteristics) and invalid and duplicate species. There's a lot of garbage waiting for revisions before it can be removed. There's also many new species that haven't been formally described yet and therefore not on the lists.

Those lists are so far removed from reality that I wouldn't use either for anything. Too misleading. An example is Avicularia: I believe there's 47 species 'officially' listed but many descriptions are so vague they're worthless. A partial revision of the genus has invalidated about 17 of them, and another 8 will be moved into new genera. Tarantula taxonomy is fluid and changing all the time, and unfortunately the official lists are lumbering behemoths that are out-of-date and clogged up with questionable names.

 

[14pokies]

Check out Tarantula Canada's species list. It doesn't have all T species but it has a big chunk most with pictures.

 

[14th]

Thanks for the response guys!
Guess that I would just have to deal with what you guys told.

I think it's a great place to start as well.
Thank you so much!

 

[Poec54]

Thanks for the response guys!
Guess that I would just have to deal with what you guys told.

Tarantula taxonomy is still in the early stages; nothing like mammals or reptiles where things are much better understood. Most tarantulas are tropical, often in remote regions of 3rd world countries. Pet stores have been selling them since the 1960's, but the hobby's only really caught on in the last 20 years. Most arachnologists have avoided tarantulas, but due to the hobby exploding worldwide some have gotten involved and made great strides.

Old descriptions were often vague and used features no longer considered valid for differentiating species. There are many incomplete old descriptions; some of the 'Avicularia' are actually terrestrials that have nothing in common with arboreals. Some descriptions are based on immature spiders, or just one sex, or from a molt, or lack a collecting locality. A century and more ago, wealthy benefactors and museums sent expeditions to the tropics to discover and name as many new species of animals and plants as they could. Because of limits of technology and communication, the same species was often 'discovered' and given a different by each of several collectors. They usually had no idea what had been collected & named previously and sent overseas. There were no firm standards on what characteristics define a genus or species, so each taxonomist worked his way thru it on his own. It's not uncommon for a single species to have had 5 or 10 different names over the last 100 years.

Type specimens in alcohol are scattered all over the world in collections and museums; some are falling apart and no longer of use. Many were lost or destroyed over the years, especially during wars. The two official lists maintain all of these until there's published revisions, but those take years or decades to sort thru, so the poor descriptions stay on the lists indefinitely. It's absurd for people to quote that 'there's 940 species of tarantulas', with the taxonomy of most genera in a state of confusion. Maybe when it's all sorted out there's only 500 valid species, maybe there's 1,500. No way to tell at this point. If you collect tarantulas, you have to live with a certain degree of uncertainty.