Poecilotheria amarasekerai, Perera (2012)

Philth

Philth

N.Y.H.C.
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For those of you not on Facebook and have not seen this yet there seems to be a new species of Poecilotheria from Sri Lanka. Im a bit confused by it, as its another P. regalis look-a-like from northern Sri Lanka. The recently described Poecilotheria rajaei is also a P. regalis look-a-like from northern Sri Lanka. :? Are they the same thing :?

As well the abstract says that there is "only 5 identified Poecilotheria form Sri Lanka" I counted 8. Whats up with that? :? Click here for abstract

Click here for pics.

Later, Tom
 
M

MrCrackerpants

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Thanks for the link with the abstract. Samarawckrama lists that five species are endemic to Sri Lanka.

Samarawckrama, V. A. M. P. K., Janananda, M. D. B. G., Ranawana, K. B. & Smith, A. (2005). Study of
the distribution of the genus Poecilotheria of the family Theraphosidae in Sri Lanka. Cey. J. Sci.
(Bio. Sci.) 34, 75-86.

P. 75 "There are sixteen species of theraphosid spiders recorded from the Indian Sub-continent. Among them, eleven are endemic to India (Smith and Kirk, 2002) while the remaining five species are endemic to Sri Lanka."
 
P

Palinda

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true story!

Well, I wrote the paper on Poecilotheria amarasekerai.

However, the species was described before my full paper is processed. Therefore several other individuals named the species as P. rajaei (before the full paper is published). Distribution, Ecology and Morphology of a newly discovered Poecilotheria Species of Sri Lanka (Araneae – Theraphosidae)~ full paper, will be published in Journal of tropical science by University of Sri Jayawardhanapura.

It may take time as the next volume is due somewhere in late April (as I was informed). will keep you all updated as soon as its published. As the naming process has been done, I have to take out the naming part from my study (in being ethical to the first come first served basis).

therefore P. amarasekerai is no longer valid, and P. rajaei is the current name of the new northern species from Sri Lanka. Its not P. regalis to say as the ventral leg patterns show a clear cut difference. My full paper comes with the theory of divergent evolution and I have shown examples to prove the hypothesis.

however do not use the reference mentioned in the paper {Nanayakkara, R. & Nilantha Vishvanath 2011: Hitherto unrecorded species of Poecilotheria (Tarantula) from Sri Lanka. National Science Foundation E-journal.} as its 92% plagiarism of my work with provable and clear cut similarities.
tell me how to upload a large file and it will be posted here!!!
 
Philth

Philth

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Ask and you will get your answer :) Thanks for chiming in Palinda, I discussed this with you on Facebook yesterday, but thanks for taking the time to reply here as well.

Later, Tom
 
S

Spyder 1.0

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I am preparing a publication of the integrative taxonomy of the whole genus. Palinda, I would love to read your paper please!
 
tyrantuladub

tyrantuladub

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Spyder 1.0 said:
I am preparing a publication of the integrative taxonomy of the whole genus. Palinda, I would love to read your paper please!
Click to expand...
+1 on this! Well, I'm not preparing a publication or anything, but I'd still love to read it :D
 
Michael Jacobi

Michael Jacobi

ARACHNOCULTURE MAGAZINE
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There are seven Sri Lankan species of Poecilotheria at present, although I presume some synonymies will be established whenever someone gets around to undertaking a serious DNA based revision. Integrative taxonomy is multi-source and certainly useful, but it is the DNA work that will truly establish these species as distinct or not. As to the claim of plagiarism, I make no comment except to state that releasing a new species name or combination prior to publication in a peer-reviewed journal is ill-advised. As to the new species published by Ranil et al. in the BTS journal, it certainly seems to be an intermediate form linking the Indian and Sri Lankan species; a Sri Lankan regalis if you will. Right now it seems to be most interesting due to the media's hyperbolic "face sized" rhetoric. Over the past couple days, myself and BTS Chairman Peter Kirk were inundated with media inquiries and Ranil's photos were used by countless online news agencies, all exploiting the "giant" or face sized nonsense. In the end, the exposure for the genus, tarantula fauna at large and the BTS will hopefully be worthwhile.
 
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