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2024-10-11 12:33:30 UTC

ater on Nostr: For today's Colorado #Invertober I chose the brown tarantula (Aphonopelma sp.) I put ...

For today's Colorado #Invertober I chose the brown tarantula (Aphonopelma sp.) I put question marks on there because it seems like the number and name of tarantula species in our state is different each year. This is more due to debate over what it means to be a species than anything.

Colorado has at least two geographically distinct populations of large brown tarantulas, separated not only by mountain ranges but also temporally, since the La Junta tarantulas migrate in late August to September and the Durango tarantulas peak in October. These migrations are swarms of mature males in search of females, so it is unlikely for them to ever interbreed. This should result in speciation, but the different populations are just too genetically similar for anyone to agree.

#SciArt #Inktober #spider