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rymay33

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Found this little guy last night. Curious what he is? He’s super small, I have an Aphonopelma Mareki, but he has tan on his carapace, this guy was completely black. I’m thinking it’s a Mareki, but curious if anyone else thinks something different? I’m in southern AZ, 30 minutes north of Tucson.
It'll be difficult to ID this guy from a photo. You can review the genus revision to see if there are any identifying characteristics that jump out, but it often requires examination of a decreased specimen with a microscope. I can say 2 things, though: he's not really smaller than MM's of many Aphonopelma species (I have an MM A. moderatum that's smaller than this one); and if he's south of Phoenix, he's not A. mareki (they are distributed north of the Phoenix metro area).

 
It'll be difficult to ID this guy from a photo. You can review the genus revision to see if there are any identifying characteristics that jump out, but it often requires examination of a decreased specimen with a microscope. I can say 2 things, though: he's not really smaller than MM's of many Aphonopelma species (I have an MM A. moderatum that's smaller than this one); and if he's south of Phoenix, he's not A. mareki (they are distributed north of the Phoenix metro area).

Now I’m questioning even more! Because he’s definitely not a Chalcodes. Thanks for the link!
 
Now I’m questioning even more! Because he’s definitely not a Chalcodes. Thanks for the link!
I think the AZ key in the revision points to A. paloma (smaller species found in desert/grassland habitats, slightly swollen femur on leg III, distributed in lower elevations of the Sonoran desert in southern AZ). The only thing I can't tell very well from the photos is if the femur on leg III is swollen (he only has 1, and the shadows make it tricky), but if it is, I think that's the winner. Compare to the MM photos here:
 
I think the AZ key in the revision points to A. paloma (smaller species found in desert/grassland habitats, slightly swollen femur on leg III, distributed in lower elevations of the Sonoran desert in southern AZ). The only thing I can't tell very well from the photos is if the femur on leg III is swollen (he only has 1, and the shadows make it tricky), but if it is, I think that's the winner. Compare to the MM photos here:
I think that’s the winner! From the video I have, I’m pretty sure the femur on leg III is swollen!
 

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Tarantula Identification
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rymay33
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