Patu (genus)
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| Patu | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Suborder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Symphytognathidae |
| Genus: | Patu Marples, 1951 |
| Species | |
|
See text. |
|
| Diversity | |
| 8 species | |
Patu is a genus of spiders in the family Symphytognathidae that occurs in Colombia and Oceania. Patu digua is the smallest species of spider described to date.
[edit] Name
The name is possibly derived from some Polynesian term like the Māori patu (a type of short-handed club), Samoan patupatu (with a lumpy shape), fatu (a stone or another hard object) or patutu (to strike or hit something or someone). These terms all imply a rounded shape and hardness (enabling one to strike or hammer something with such an object).
[edit] Species
- Patu digua Forster & Platnick, 1977 (Colombia)
- Patu eberhardi Forster & Platnick, 1977 (Colombia)
- Patu marplesi Forster, 1959 (Samoa)
- Patu saladito Forster & Platnick, 1977 (Colombia)
- Patu samoensis Marples, 1951 (Samoa)
- Patu silho Saaristo, 1996 (Seychelles)
- Patu vitiensis Marples, 1951 (Fiji)
- Patu woodwardi Forster, 1959 (New Guinea)
