Progradungula

Progradungula is a genus of Australian large-clawed spiders that was first described by Raymond Robert Forster and Michael R. Gray in 1979.^[2] As of May 2024^[update] it contains only three species: P. barringtonensis, P. carraiensis and P. otwayensis.^[1]

Progradungula
P. otwayensis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Gradungulidae
Genus:	Progradungula Forster & Gray, 1979[1]
Type species
P. carraiensis Forster & Gray, 1979
Species
P. barringtonensis Michalik & Smith, 2024 P. carraiensis Forster & Gray, 1979 – Australia (New South Wales) P. otwayensis Milledge, 1997 – Australia (Victoria)

The name is derived from Latin pro ("before"), and the genus name Gradungula, referring to the ancient ancestry of the genus. It is the first discovered web-building cribellate spider in a "primitive" araneomorph spider family and helped establish the idea that all araneomorph spiders evolved from cribellate ancestors.^[3]

These spiders have an uncommon web-making technique and prey-capturing behaviour. A small (approximately 25 mm × 6 mm (0.98 in × 0.24 in)), tilting, ladder-like platform of cribellate capturing silk is supported by an overhead structure of threads linked to the rock walls and consists of two parallel stabilizing silk lines.