New Species of Jumping Spiders:
Three new species of rare jumping spiders, genus Onomastus, have been discovered by a team of researchers from India and Sri Lanka.
- All three species of jumping spiders belong to the genus Onomastus.
- The new species are:
- Onomastus brahmagiri: It was discovered in the Brahmagiri Hills of the Western Ghats in India.
- Onomastus silentvalley: It was discovered in the shola forests of Silent Valley National Park, Kerala.
- Onomastus wijesinghei: It was discovered in the montane forests of Sri Lanka.
- Onomastus belongs to one of the oldest lineages of jumping spiders and is restricted to the Oriental region.
- The newly described species are known only from isolated montane forests and are believed to have limited dispersal ability.
- The findings support the “sky island” concept, in which isolated montane habitats act as natural islands, promoting long-term geographic isolation, speciation, and high levels of endemism.
