An integrative systematic revision of the wishbone spiders (Araneae: Anamidae: Aname L. Koch, 1873) of subtropical and tropical eastern Australia, with the description of 55 new species

Spiders of the genus Aname L. Koch, 1873, commonly referred to as wishbone spiders, are a ubiquitous and extremely diverse component of the Australian mygalomorph fauna. Distributed across most of mainland Australia, and with an estimated endemic fauna in excess of 300 species, it is perhaps the world’s most diverse mygalomorph spider genus. Unsurprisingly, this group presents an enormous taxonomic challenge, with 80% or more of the fauna still undescribed, and a large proportion of species occurring in arid, semi-arid or otherwise remote parts of inland Australia. To address these shortfalls, this study represents the first in a planned series of major revisions to rapidly advance our knowledge of the Australian wishbone spiders. Here, we revise the Aname fauna of subtropical and tropical eastern Australia, applying an integrative approach of unprecedented monographic scope for a taxonomic study on Australian Mygalomorphae, bringing together morphological monography, live habitus information, burrowing biology and molecular phylogenetics resulting from extensive field work. Our expanded molecular phylogeny is augmented with 131 new barcode (COI) sequences from eastern Australian Aname species, and we provide descriptions, natural history observations and distributional data for a total of 68 eastern species. Of these, 10 represent redescriptions of previously described and valid species: A. barrema Raven, 1985, A. blackdownensis Raven, 1985, A. camara Raven, 1985, A. carina Raven, 1985, A. distincta (Rainbow, 1914), A. longitheca Raven, 1985, A. inimica Raven, 1985, A. pallida L. Koch, 1873, A. robertsorum Raven, 1985, and A. warialda Raven, 1985. Three represent species previously considered junior synonyms that have now been revalidated: A. attenuata (Rainbow & Pulleine, 1918) stat. rev., A. giraulti (Rainbow, 1914) stat. rev., and A. villosa Rainbow & Pulleine, 1918 stat. rev. One species (Aname collinsorum Raven, 1985) is now considered a junior synonym of Aname giraulti (Rainbow, 1914) syn. nov. Finally, 55 species are newly described: Aname albicula sp. nov., A. ammolithica sp. nov., A. aurantella sp. nov., A. aurensis sp. nov., A. barakula sp. nov., A. bifaceta sp. nov., A. boreovillosa sp. nov., A. braemar sp. nov., A. briggsi sp. nov., A. broadwater sp. nov., A. calida sp. nov., A. callitra sp. nov., A. cassowariensis sp. nov., A. consuelo sp. nov., A. convoluta sp. nov., A. corundaria sp. nov., A. cudmore sp. nov., A. dingo sp. nov., A. distorta sp. nov., A. eddieorum sp. nov., A. ethabuka sp. nov., A. ferruginea sp. nov., A. flexicaudula sp. nov., A. fossoria sp. nov., A. fuscochelicera sp. nov., A. gilbertensis sp. nov., A. harmoniosa sp. nov., A. hughenden sp. nov., A. inglewood sp. nov., A. insolita sp. nov., A. intermedia sp. nov., A. lambkinae sp. nov., A. lawrenceae sp. nov., A. litoralis sp. nov., A. magnifica sp. nov., A. mariala sp. nov., A. mulgana sp. nov., A. namoi sp. nov., A. nigrochelicera sp. nov., A. nigrotarsa sp. nov., A. occivillosa sp. nov., A. olkola sp. nov., A. platensis sp. nov., A. pyroensis sp. nov., A. rubrochelicera sp. nov., A. rupicola sp. nov., A. savannella sp. nov., A. savannensis sp. nov., A. scutitheca sp. nov., A. serpentina sp. nov., A. tropicana sp. nov., A. truncata sp. nov., A. vigilata sp. nov., A. viridiensis sp. nov., and A. warrego sp. nov.