Alireza
Zamani
Biodiversity Unit of the University of Turku
Ph.D.
Contact
Areas of expertise
Arachnology
Evolutionary Biology
Taxonomy
Systematics
Faunistics
Teaching
Arachnids of Finland
Research
I am an arachnologist with expertise in spider systematics and biogeography, primarily specializing in the fauna of the Caucasus, Middle East, and Central Asia. Over the course of my career, I have described and named more than 200 arachnid taxa from various countries across South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. This research contributes to our understanding of arachnid diversity, as well as their geographical distribution patterns and evolutionary relationships. Additionally, I have actively contributed to research projects and published papers in other fields such as functional morphology, phylogeography, ecology, and theoretical concepts of taxonomy.
Publications
West Side Story: systematics of funnel-weavers (Araneae: Agelenidae: Ageleninae) from arid western South Africa, with two new genera and 16 new species (2026)
Zootaxa
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )
Insights Into Spatial Orientation and Cognition in Tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae) Under Natural Conditions, With Notes on Possible Ontogenetic Niche Shifts (2026)
Ecology and Evolution
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )
New data on spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) of the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant, with new species and records (2026)
ZooKeys
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )
Different, but still the same: integrative taxonomy confirms a new species of Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Eresidae) from the South Caucasus (2025)
ZooKeys
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )
First DNA barcoding of Dysderidae (Araneae) from Kosovo, with new records and the description of a new species of Harpactea Bristowe, 1939 (2025)
Zootaxa
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )
Velvet Revolution: integrative taxonomy of South Caucasian Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Eresidae), with five new species (2025)
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )
Four new species of Mygalomorphae (Araneae) from Tajikistan and Afghanistan (2025)
Journal of Natural History
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )
An annotated checklist of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Azerbaijan (2025)
Zootaxa
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )
A new species of Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae: Eresidae) from Iraq (2025)
Arachnology
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )
Persian treasures: integrative taxonomy reveals high species’ diversity of ladybird spiders (Araneae: Eresidae: Eresus) (2025)
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )