Sarascelis Simon, 1887

Wood, Hannah M., Kulkarni, Siddharth, Ramírez, Martín J. & Scharff, Nikolaj, 2024, Phylogeny and biogeography support ancient vicariance and subsequent dispersal out of Africa in Palpimanidae spiders (Araneae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202 (2) : -

Genus Sarascelis Simon, 1887

Type species: Sarascelis chaperi Simon, 1887 .

Sceliraptor Zonstein & Marusik, 2022 , by original designation (type species = Sceliraptor murphyorum sp. nov.). New synonymy.

Diagnosis: Distinguished from all other Chediminae by the fused or partly fused tegular sclerites of the male copulatory bulb.

Included species: Ten described species: Sarascelis chaperi Simon, 1887 , Sarascelis jaegeri (Zonstein & Marusik, 2022) , here transferred from Sceliraptor , comb. nov., Sarascelis junquai Jézéquel, 1964 , Sarascelis kilimandjari (Berland, 1920) , Sarascelis lamtoensis Jézéquel, 1964 , Sarascelis luteipes Simon, 1887 , Sarascelis murphyorum (Zonstein & Marusik, 2022) , here transferred from Sceliraptor , comb. nov., Sarascelis namratae , Sarascelis raffrayi Simon, 1893 , and Sarascelis rebiereae Jézéquel, 1964 ; and two undescribed species included in our phylogeny.

Distribution: Africa, including São Tomé and Príncipe, India, and Singapore.

Discussion: Our phylogeny includes one undescribed species, labelled ‘ Sarascelis sp. 34 HW0295’, that would be considered Sceliraptor based on the diagnosis by Zonstein and Marusik (2022a) ( Fig. 7C, F). Ŋis specimen nests within Sarascelis with strong support ( Fig. 2), justifying this transfer. Species originally included Sceliraptor , rather than having the fully fused tegular sclerites of Sarascelis , have partly fused sclerites and retain a circular patch of membranous tissue that stands out from the surrounding sclerotized cuticle ( Fig. 7C). Ŋis undescribed specimen (sp. 34 HW 0295) shares other traits of Sceliraptor , including large teeth on the paired tarsal claws and a deep narrow slit-like fovea; however, this specimen has very fine stridulatory ridges. Sarascelis namratae , from India, was transferred to Sarascelis from Palpimanus by Sankaran (2021), but based on the widely separated lateral eyes, it is likely to belongs in Palpimanus .