Pterinochilus raygabrieli Gallon, 2009
Type Locality and Records
Original Description
Distribution
Type Locality: Kenya, Mt. Thatha area, 10 miles W of mountain on Nairobi road
Adult Male Activity
Collection months of 2 adult male specimen records, against the rainfall where they live
Mean monthly rainfall and temperature 2001–2020 near where these males were collected. MERRA-2 via NASA POWER, for a grid cell averaging 1105 m. Wet and dry seasons, from the rainfall at the locality itself. Records span 2 countries (Ethiopia, Kenya), so one climate curve cannot describe all of them.
Etymology
The specific name is a patronym in honour of Ray Gabriel who has done much to assist my work on African theraphosid taxonomy.
Specimen Records (2)
First record of Pterinochilus raygabrieli from Ethiopia and only the second specimen of the species known to science; the basis for the first photographs of its palpal bulb.
Taxonomic History
- 2025 Bariev & Sherwood (2025) reported the first Ethiopian record, from Lake Chamo in the Rift Valley — a range extension of hundreds of miles north of the type locality at Mount Thatha, Kenya, and only the second specimen of the species known to science. They also published the first photographs of its palpal bulb, showing four embolic keels and that the apparent shape of the embolus changes dramatically with the orientation of the bulb.