Psalmopoeus sandersoni Gabriel & Sherwood, 2020

Undescribed ♂ Male described

Type Locality and Records

Type locality

Distribution

Belize

Type Locality: British Honduras

Etymology

The species epithet is a patronym in honour of biologist and cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson (1911– 1973) who collected the holotype specimen.

Taxonomic History

  1. 2020
    Psalmopoeus sandersoni Gabriel & Sherwood, 2020
  2. Junior synonym of Psalmopoeus victori Mendoza, 2014 (Cifuentes & Bertani, 2022). Described from Belize on a single male and separated from P. victori by a slightly rather than moderately tapered embolus apex — a difference the revisers read as individual variation.
  3. Restored. Peñaherrera-R. et al. (2025) removed this species from synonymy with P. victori. Cifuentes & Bertani read the difference in embolus curvature as individual variation but overlooked both the distinct curvature itself and a large size difference: 27.2 mm total length in P. sandersoni against more than 37 mm in even the smallest P. victori males examined. Seven captive-reared P. victori males showed how little the bulb actually varies within that species.

Bibliography (2)

Cifuentes, Y. & Bertani, R. (2022). Taxonomic revision and cladistic analysis of the tarantula genera Tapinauchenius Ausserer, 1871, Psalmopoeus Pocock, 1985, and Amazonius n. gen. (Theraphosidae, Psalmopoeinae). Zootaxa 5101(1): 1-123.
Peñaherrera-R., P. J., León-E, R. J., Guerrero-Campoverde, A., Falcón-Reibán, J. M., Fajardo-Torres, J. D., Picón-Rentería, P., Gabriel, R., Sherwood, D. & Cisneros-Heredia, D. F. (2025). Novel insights on Psalmopoeinae Samm & Schmidt, 2010 (Araneae: Theraphosidae): new species, taxonomic restorations, and reversal of four erroneous synonymies. Arachnology 20 (3): 491-508.
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