Classification
Domain-Eukarya:
The Tasmanian cave spider belongs in the domain Eukarya because
it has membrane bound organelles, a true nucleus, and is 
structurally very complex. (Encyclopedia of Life, 2014)
Kingdom-Animalia:
The Hickmania troglodytes is in the kingdom Animalia because it is heterotrophic, meaning that it does not make its own food, and it lacks a cell wall. (Encyclopedia of Life, 2014) Check out this other sweet organism in the kingdom Animalia, the grapevine beetle!
Phylum-Arthropoda:
The Tasmanian Cave spider is classified under this phylum because it has a segmented body, bilateral symmetry, and a chitinous exoskeleton that it occasionally molts. (Encylopedia of Life, 2014) Also check out these other cool members of the phylum Arthropoda, the wasp queen,and the damselfly!
Class-Arachnida:
Hickmania troglodytes is a member of the class Arachnida because it has eight legs and breathes through tracheal tubes or pulmonary sacs. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2014)
Order-Araneae:
This organism is classified under the Araneae because it has two body sections composed of the cephalothorax (in the front) which contains the mouth, fangs, eyes, and pedipalps, and the abdomen( in the back) which contains the spinnerets. (Encyclopedia of Life, 2014) Check out another member of the order Araneae called the spinybacked orbweaver!
Family-Austrochilinae:
It is in the family Austrochilinae because it has a web display that is distinct of the members of Austrochilinae, it works on its web at night, and its closest relatives are from Chile. (Lopardo et al., 2004)
Genus-Hickmania:
The genus Hickmania is named after Vernon Victor Hickman, the zoologist who discovered the Hickmania troglodytes. (Guiler, 2007)
Species-Hickmania troglodytes:
Troglodytes means “cave-dwelling” in Latin. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2014)
This tree is modeled after the tree of life of Arthropoda created by members of The Tree of Life web project
This phylogenetic tree is of the phylum that the Hickmania troglodytes belongs to, Arthropoda. It shows all of the different classes that fall under the phylum Arthropoda, including the Tasmanian cave spider's class, Arachnida. This tree shows that the most closely related classes to the Arachnida are the Eurypterida, which includes sea scorpians, the Xiphosura, which includes horseshoe crabs, and the Pycnogonida, which includes sea spiders. It is interesting how all of the Arachnida's closest relatives are aquatic!
This tree is modeled after the tree of life of Araneae and the tree of life of Araneomorphae created by members of The Tree of Life web project
This phylogenetic tree represents the order Aranae and the sub-order Araneomorphae which contains the family that the Hickmania troglodytes belongs to, the Austrochilidae. The Austrochilidae is most closely related to the family Gradungulidae.
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