Browsing by Author "Botero-Trujillo, Ricardo"
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Item Four new species of “hooded tick-spiders” (Ricinulei, Ricinoididae) from South and Central America : with clarification of the identity of Cryptocellus leleupi Cooreman, 1976 (American Museum novitates, no. 3976)(American Museum of Natural History., 2021-08-25) Botero-Trujillo, Ricardo; Carvalho, Leonardo S.; Florez Daza, Eduardo; Prendini, LorenzoThe Ricinulei Thorell, 1876, or “hooded tick-spiders,” are among the least studied arachnid orders. Knowledge of ricinuleid diversity has been slow to accumulate because these arachnids are underrepresented in biological collections. Despite an increase in the pace of new species descriptions in recent decades, the species richness of the order probably remains vastly underestimated. Large areas in some of the world’s most biodiverse countries are without a single record for the order, hence new records invariably turn out to be new species. The present contribution describes four new species of the mostly South American genus Cryptocellus Westwood, 1874: Cryptocellus canutama, sp. nov., and Cryptocellus jamari, sp. nov., from Brazil; Cryptocellus islacolon, sp. nov., from Panama; and Cryptocellus macagual, sp. nov., from Colombia. Additionally, a new diagnosis and description are provided for Cryptocellus leleupi Cooreman, 1976, long considered a nomen dubium. The known locality records of the five species and their putative relatives are mapped. The present contribution raises the number of Cryptocellus species to 45 and the number of extant species of Ricinulei to 101.Item A new Troglomorphic, leaf-litter scorpion from Ecuador (Troglotayosicidae: Troglotayosicus) (American Museum novitates, no. 3981)(American Museum of Natural History., 2021-11-03) Botero-Trujillo, Ricardo; Ochoa, J. A. (José A.); Prendini, LorenzoFor several decades, Troglotayosicus Lourenço, 1981, remained an enigmatic, monotypic scorpion genus believed to be troglobitic. The discovery and description in recent years of several endogean species of the genus, inhabiting the leaf litter of tropical rainforests in Colombia and Ecuador, advanced knowledge about these scorpions. The known distribution of Troglotayosicus was considerably expanded along the Andes, and it was demonstrated that, despite the absence of median ocelli, the genus is composed primarily of species that inhabit leaf litter. In the present study, Troglotayosicus ballvei, sp. nov., is described from Sacha Huagra Lodge, adjacent to Archidona Municipality, in Napo Province, Ecuador, raising the number of Troglotayosicus species to six, three each in Colombia and Ecuador. An updated map of the known distribution of the genus is presented.Item Systematics of the "giant" Ricinulei (Ricinoididae: Ricinoides) of West Africa : with descriptions of five new species and comparative morphology of the male copulatory apparatus. (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 448)(New York, NY : American Museum of Natural History, 2021-04-05) Botero-Trujillo, Ricardo; Sain, Colby E.; Prendini, LorenzoThe Ricinulei Thorell, 1876, or "hooded tick-spiders," are among the rarest and least studied arachnid orders. Ricinoides Ewing, 1929, the only Old World genus of extant ricinuleids, with 11 species described from tropical West Africa, is the most neglected of the three genera currently recognized. A lack of attention to the systematics of Ricinoides has created a disparity between its taxonomic diversity and that of the New World genera, Cryptocellus Westwood, 1874, and Pseudocellus Platnick, 1980, in which many new species have been described in recent decades. The present contribution provides a revised diagnosis of Ricinoides, which includes two new, putative synapomorphies for the genus and addresses the systematics and morphology of a group of West African species, which includes the world's largest ricinuleids and the type species of the genus. This group of nine species, referred to as the "giant" Ricinulei, shares a unique combination of characters, many of which appear to be unique to the group, and appears to be monophyletic. Four species of this group are redescribed, with revised diagnoses, based on reexamination of the type material: Ricinoi des afzelii (Thorell, 1892), from Sierra Leone; Ricinoides atewa Naskrecki, 2008, from Ghana; Ric inoides feae (Hansen, 1921), from Guinea-Bissau; and Ricinoides westermannii (Guérin-Méneville, 1838), from Togo. Five new species are described, raising the number of species in the genus to 16: Ricinoides eburneus, sp. nov., and Ricinoides taii, sp. nov., from Côte d'Ivoire; Ricinoides iita, sp. nov., from Nigeria; Ricinoides kakum, sp. nov., from Ghana; and Ricinoides nzerekorensis, sp. nov., from Guinea. Comparative illustrations of the adult morphology are presented for all nine species. The male copulatory apparatus is described and illustrated in detail, and new terminology and characters presented. The female spermathecae are described and illustrated for six species in which the females are known, representing the first illustrated comparison of these structures in African ricinuleids. Geographical distribution records are revised and updated for the different species, and their distributions mapped.