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Psyche 
[Vol. 92 
viously understood. Its main distinguishing features, e.g. lack of 
eyes, modified tarsi and elongated metatarsi, are associated with its 
cavernicolous habits. It is known that troglobitic features can evolve 
fairly rapidly, therefore other less adaptive characters also need to 
be considered in any postulated phylogeny. 
An analogue of the suggested Troglodiplura and Aname kirrama 
affinity within the Araneomorphae is the blind Baiami mullamul- 
langensis (Gray) from Mullamullang Cave on the Nullarbor Plain. 
This species was first placed in a new genus Tartarus (Gray, 1973) 
but later shown to have close affinity with species of Baiami distrib- 
uted in southwest Australia, the Lofty Ranges in South Australia 
and in Victoria (Gray, 1981). 
It is of biological interest that while other groups of mygalo- 
morphs, e.g. Stanwellia and Homogoninae, which have disjunct east- 
west distributions (Main 1972, 1976 1983a and in press a) have 
clearly not been able to persist in the intervening arid central area 
subsequent to the extinction of humid forested regions prevalent in 
the early Tertiary, Troglodiplura and some araneomorphs, e.g. Bai- 
ami Lehtinen have survived by adapting to a cavernicolous exist- 
ence. 
Genus Troglodiplura Main 
Troglodiplura Main, 1969: 9. Type species Troglodiplura lowryi 
Main, by monotypy. Raven, 1981: 340. 
Diagnosis 
Distinguished by the following combination of characters: 
absence of eyes, labium with notch-like, anterior identation, unmod- 
ified maxillae with cuspules on antero-ental angle only, dorso- 
ventrally curved tarsi (without spines), male with pronounced tibial 
spur on first leg, long pear-shaped palpal bulb with tapering embo- 
lus in same axis. 
Figures 1 10 . Figs 1-3. Holotype 9 Troglodiplura lowryi , right maxilla. Figs 1 
and 3 ventral aspect. Fig. 2. Antero-ectal angle. Figs 4-10. Metallotype S T 
lowryi. Fig. 4. Carapace and chelicerae. Fig. 5. Sternal area, maxillae, labium 
and chelicerae. Fig. 6. Maxillary marginal area. Fig. 7. Ridges on retrolateral 
side of chelicera. Fig. 8. Left fang, prolateral. Fig. 9. Right tarsus IV, prolat- 
eral aspect. Fig. 10. Right tarsus IV, retrolateral view, retroclaw. Scale bars = 1.0 
mm; figs 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 not to scale. 
