Ceratogyrus marshalli

Ceratogyrus marshalli, also known as Straight Horned Baboon or Great Horned Baboon Tarantula, is a species of tarantula from the genus Ceratogyrus. It is found in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.^[1] It was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1897, as half of the Ceratogyrus genus, they own a impressive horn in the carapace.

Ceratogyrus marshalli
Female Straight Horned Baboon (Ceratogyrus marshalli)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Mygalomorphae
Family:	Theraphosidae
Genus:	Ceratogyrus
Species:	C. marshalli
Binomial name
Ceratogyrus marshalli (Pocock, 1897)
Synonyms
Ceratogyrus dolichocephalus Ceratogyrus cornuatus

Description

Females live from 8 to 10 years, while males only live 3 to 4.^[2] With a body length of 6 cm and a 15 cm legspan it is a fairly large species of Ceratogyrus.^[3] Their carapace is black with some light brown striping, of course their being their namesake straight black horn. Their opisthosoma is light brown, covered in black spotting, although sometimes a fishbone pattern is apparent. Their legs are a light brown, or grey depending on visible conditions.

Habitat

They can be found in Harare, Zimbabwe, where this section will be referring to. This area is considered to have a subtropical highland climate. The average temperature here is 19°C, with average yearly rainfall of 805mm, since it is found 1500m above sea level, it has a surprisingly stable temperatures.^[4][5][2]

Behavior

They are a very defensive spider, as most tarantulas it will first try to flee, if unable it will result in stridulation or a bite. They are burrowing and will make a vertical tunnel leading to a burrow in the end. At daytime they will most likely be in said burrow, and at night she will stay vigilant at the edge of her tunnel.^[2]

See also

• List of Theraphosidae species