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Thanatus atlanticus

species of arachnid

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 10, 2025
Entity authorityQ2584295 ↗
Source-derived summary

Thanatus atlanticus is a species of spider in the family Philodromidae. It is commonly known as the ground running spider.

Etymology

Distribution

Thanatus atlanticus is known from Cape Verde Islands and South Africa. In South Africa, it was sampled from four provinces including three protected areas, at altitudes of 182-1431 m above sea level.

Habitat and ecology

Thanasus atlanticus was sampled from grass in the Savanna biome.

Description

Conservation

Thanatus atlanticus is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographical range. The species is protected in three protected areas: Ezemvelo Nature Reserve, Kruger National Park and Namaqua National Park.

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by Lucien Berland (1936) from the Cape Verde Islands. The African species have not been revised and the species is known from both sexes.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Thanatus atlanticus” is species of arachnid. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Thanatus, atlanticus and species, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1431, 1936—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Thanatus, atlanticus and species is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “species of arachnid” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 10, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q2584295. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1431 and 1936.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

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  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Thanatus atlanticus”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Thanatus atlanticus primary sources, Thanatus atlanticus archive and Thanatus research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Thanatus atlanticus”?
  2. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
  3. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Thanatus atlanticus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.