# Do tarantulas have retractable claws?



## cacoseraph (May 19, 2009)

well, do they?



please do not post with a simple "yes" or "no"... or even "i have seen them". i am looking for very clear pictures (bare minimum, one picture retracted and one picture fully extended)... or better: hard scientific references (which you can quote small parts of, fair use)

i am pretty sure they do, normally, retract

i am almost positive i have seen it myself when free handling. i don't have any large tarantulas right now, or i would just go see for myself and take pics

i am looking for a good reference... i have found dozens of crummy references... a fair portion of which are oddly similar in wording :/  Is this one of those things that has wormed into the hobby and is really bad information?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6580456/Hill-2006-Jumping-Spider-Feet-V3-SC-PDF
seems to say jumping spiders have retractables. still looking for a closer match

anyone want to buy me an article?
Morphology of locomotor appendages in Arachnida: evolutionary trends and phylogenetic implications
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120802077/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0


or
Biology of Spiders, 2nd Edition (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Spiders-2nd-Rainer-Foelix/dp/0195095944
and i'm not even asking for the hardback =P




and apologies to WelshTan for semi-threadjacking her


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## WelshTan (May 20, 2009)

lol. . ..tis no worry at all lol. . . feel free to carry on lol


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## Moltar (May 20, 2009)

Well here's a picture of my B albopilosum just after shedding it's exuvium. Notice that all the claws are extended except one pedipalp where the claws are either retracted or the scopulae are closed over them. Also of note is that there appears to be only one claw on the pedipalp instead of two. I think that maybe the claws are fixed but the scopulae part to expose the claws when needed.


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## HnnbL (May 20, 2009)

Its no in english but there you can find lot of pictures
http://spiderplanet.eu/index.php?op...atid=36:stavba-tela-vtakara&Itemid=88&lang=en


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## WelshTan (May 20, 2009)

I found this on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula ..A tarantula has 4 pairs of legs but 6 pairs of appendages. Each leg has seven segments which from the prosoma out are: coxa, trochanter, femur, patella, tibia, tarsus and pretarsus, and claw. Two or three retractable claws are at the end of each leg. These claws are used to grip surfaces for climbing. Also on the end of each leg, surrounding the claws, is a group of hairs. These hairs, called the scopula, help the tarantula to grip better when climbing surfaces like glass. The fifth pair are the pedipalps which aid in feeling, gripping prey, and mating in the case of a mature male. The sixth pair of appendages are the chelicerae and their attached fangs.


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## WelshTan (May 20, 2009)

The link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula is a very good informative site which gives in depth information about tarantulas


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## pato_chacoana (May 20, 2009)

Hi,

Their tarsus splits in two when they walk/crawl and the claws come out because of the pressure the spider applies to the tarsus itself, otherwise you can still see them but in a more ''retracted'' way.






Stromatopelma calceatum






Theraphosa blondi






Avicularia sp. ''peru purple''

Best regards,
Pato


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## cacoseraph (May 20, 2009)

awesome pics, Pato!  thanks a lot







Welsh... the problem with just taking wikipedia for truth is that anyone can edit it. yes... things tend to be correct... but that particular article has very poor citation... and the cites i looked at were from CRAP stuff on the internet.  

i had seen the wikipedia on tarantulas, but felt it lacked enough scientific validity to rely on.  my target audience is sure to be quite skeptical, you know?



HnnbL, that is a very nice looking link. i really like the side view of the Poeci scopulae!


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## WelshTan (May 20, 2009)

cacoseraph said:


> awesome pics, Pato!  thanks a lot
> 
> 
> 
> ...




oh. . .ok. . .thats me told then lol . . .


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## cacoseraph (May 20, 2009)

WelshTan said:


> oh. . .ok. . .thats me told then lol . . .


i just meant that i was looking for very hard stuff... and wikipedia is pretty soft reference. i use it to get an idea about something that i don't know anything about, then do independent googling to make sure the info i found in wikipedia is sound


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## HnnbL (May 20, 2009)

Claw


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## Sathane (May 20, 2009)

Most sites you find through a regular Google search, aside from the accredited ones such as the BTS and ATS sites, are mostly just as credible as Wikipedia - which is to say, not very.  

Chances are that the people who 'research' the topic they are editing on Wikipedia do so using Google searches as well.



cacoseraph said:


> i just meant that i was looking for very hard stuff... and wikipedia is pretty soft reference. i use it to get an idea about something that i don't know anything about, then do independent googling to make sure the info i found in wikipedia is sound


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## cacoseraph (May 20, 2009)

Sathane said:


> Chances are that the people who 'research' the topic they are editing on Wikipedia do so using Google searches as well.


i agree


and a LOT of the other sites out there have pretty much verbatim clones on the retractable claw thing :/


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## PhilR (May 21, 2009)

Well judging by the dissected ones above, and based on pato's comments,  they don't appear to be retractable in the conventional sense (in that they would be able to be withdrawn into a sheath within the tarsus by the spider if they were).

The best way to see for yourself is if you have a recently deceased spider or one in alcohol, preferably with glycerine. Give the tarsus a squeeze and see if you can see any extension and retraction.

If it's recently deceased though, make sure it is really dead. I can't imagine a spider being happy with someone taking hold of its leg


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## xhexdx (Jun 10, 2009)

Alright, I had my big boehmei molt tonight and I happened to catch her in the act.

Once she was free from the molt, I witnessed her claws retracting in and out.  This doesn't necessarily mean they are retractable in the conventional sense, as PhilR mentions.

Just thought I would mention this.  My cam takes crap for video so I wasn't able to shoot anything.  Hopefully this will help others notice this same thing when their spiders molt. 

--Joe


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## Jackuul (Jun 11, 2009)

PhilR said:


> Well judging by the dissected ones above, and based on pato's comments,  they don't appear to be retractable in the conventional sense (in that they would be able to be withdrawn into a sheath within the tarsus by the spider if they were).
> 
> The best way to see for yourself is if you have a recently deceased spider or one in alcohol, preferably with glycerine. Give the tarsus a squeeze and see if you can see any extension and retraction.
> 
> If it's recently deceased though, make sure it is really dead. I can't imagine a spider being happy with someone taking hold of its leg


Sometimes I think there needs to be a giant banner above the site that reads "Upside-down spiders are not dead!" with a link to molting.  

Had to educate my first unknowing local pet store employee about that.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Zoltan (Jun 25, 2009)

Andrew,

Found a title you might be interested in.

Dunlop, J. A. 1996. *Movements of claw tufts at the tarsus tip of a tarantula spider.* _Netherlands Journal of Zoology, 45: 513–520._
Unfortunately I don't have the full article, but the abstract can be read here.


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## Travis K (Jun 25, 2009)

Form what I have read and witnessed, cause I am rather fascinated with Tarsal Claws, it is more like a mechanical hinge than a retractable claw.  If you want to get technical you could say those are the same thing, but a retractable claw IMO is like a cat or that very familiar super hero we call Wolverine.  In order for it to be called retractable it would need to go into something.  Tarsal Claws, from my observations, just hinge back a little bit into the satae and have slight dexterity, but I would not call them "retractable".  Great Thread Cacoseraph!

Regards,


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