is the tanzanian stout leg a "baboon"?

[xBurntBytheSunx]

i was lucky enough to find a cheap one at a reptile show and it was labeled "stout leg baboon" the dealer told me they're often confused with feather leg baboons. i see they are labeled "tanzanian stout leg" on the dealer sites so i was wondering if theyr'e actually a "baboon" they look very similar with the starburst pattern, only differnce seems to be the cute fluffy legs

 

[Moltar]

Isn't baboon just a word used to refer to African T's?

I think the word "tarantula" is only used in America and Europe. In Africa they call all t's baboon spiders and in South America they call them all bird eaters except for maybe the little avics.

I can't remember where i read this, anybody else read something of the sort?

 

[luna]

Yes, they are baboons

If it has the extra fuzzy back legs it probably is "Tanzanian Stoutleg Baboon" Eucratoscelus pachypus. Mine was labeled a Featherleg Baboon when I purchased it (my only pet store spider). The poor thing truly was being abused but the store was going out of business and they weren't going to be selling anymore so she came home with me. Look up pictures of both; I don't have any on here but plently of other people do in the gallery section. They look very different from one another.

Eucratoscelus pachypus are baboons and they are from Africa; Tanzania and Kenya.

Once it makes a burrow, you may never see it again. It is really a shame they do that because they are so cute.

Cheri

 

[harrypei]

ya, it is a "baboon" spider. i think the name comes from the locals thinking the legs of the large tarantulas look like fingers of baboon.

it's the same as tarantulas in general being called earth tigers in eastern asian

 

[Lorgakor]

Stromatopelma calceatum is the Featherleg Baboon, and E. pachypus is the Stoutleg Baboon. If it has thick "leg warmers or bell bottoms" for rear legs then it is a female. Males do not get the thickened rear legs.

S. calceatum
http://www.tarantulacanada.ca/English/English.htm

E. pachypus
http://www.tarantulacanada.ca/English/English.htm

 

[Moltar]

I thought there was a similar asian name but couldn't remember what it was. Thanks harrypei. A stoutleg is one of many on my list of "I wants" I just picked up an E murinus (skeleton T) that has similar fluffiness except on it's front legs. It looks so cool, extra menacing and all...

 

[jr47]

They are called baboon spiders because baboons like to eat them.

 

[beetleman]

yeah, i have a stoutleg aswell cute little thing,kinda looks like a bumblebee in a way that's why i like em.

 

[spiders4life]

I dont´understand how come, so many people consecuently denies using the scientiffic names on T´s??
This would sure make it less complicated, Try to do a pickture search on Google to find Mexican red leg! you get 7 different species:evil: :?
Dont you guys sometime get some diferent T sent to you, than you wantet because of some misunderstood popname?

 

[jr47]

we woodent now the diferanse.

 

[Lorgakor]

Maybe you wouldn't know the difference, but most people would know the difference if they were sent the wrong spider.

 

[pinkfoot]

Actually...

The term baboon spider was coined in South Africa, and unless I am very much mistaken, applies only to Ts that endemic here. However, as with any popular / common / colloqial name, it is not scientifically administered and can be used out of context.

Their thick legs resemble the digits on a baboon's fingers, hence the name.

 

[T.Raab]

Pinkfoot is right, the name came first from RAS - but now it means african Theraphosidae.

Compare the term with the Book from Andrew SMITH - "Baboon Spiders".

• SMITH, A. M. (1990c). Baboon spiders: Tarantulas of Africa and the Middle East. London, Fitzgerald, pp. 1-142.

 

[jr47]

I was actually reading the other night and came across an article that claimed they were called baboons because the natives noticed baboons eating them. But I am not spending an hour looking for that one article.
It is like about anything else I have done any reading on concerning T's, or many other things for that matter. You can read twenty articles and come up with 3 or 4 completely different opinions. All written by people who claim they are correct.
Which is why I seldom post an opinion here, You will get an argument even if you quote what you write. Along with a few good insults.
I am sure if you were to walk from village to village you would find many people to give you many reasons why they are called baboon spiders.

 

[beetleman]

Maybe you wouldn't know the difference, but most people would know the difference if they were sent the wrong spider.

oh yeah, i would definilty know the difference!

 

[Moltar]

The way i figure it: Common names amost always come from a translation of the local's name for the animal or the name given them by the first european explorers to encounter them. In either case not someone qualified to taxonomically describe the animal. personally, i try to use scientific names unless the context of the discussion has already identified the species we're talking about. In this case we're talking "stout leg" vs. "feather leg" so we can dispense with S. calceatum vs. E. pachypus. In any case, when i hear "baboon" i assume it's african.