Alireza Zamani
Ph.D.
Areas of expertise
Arachnology; Evolutionary Biology; Taxonomy; Systematics; Faunistics
Arachnology; Evolutionary Biology; Taxonomy; Systematics; Faunistics
Biography
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.
Teaching
Arachnids of Finland
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 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - An annotated checklist of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Azerbaijan (2025)
- Zootaxa
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - A new species of Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae: Eresidae) from Iraq (2025)
- Arachnology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Arthropod diversity in Iran: Class Arachnida Lamarck, 1801 (excl. Acariformes Zakhvatkin, 1952 and Parasitiformes Reuter, 1909) (2025)
- Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics
(A2 Refereed review article in a scientific journal ) - Copulatory Mechanics Reveals a Self‐Bracing Mechanism via a Femoral Apophysis in Funnel Weavers (Araneae, Agelenidae) (2025)
- Ecology and Evolution
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Different, but still the same: integrative taxonomy confirms a new species of Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Eresidae) from the South Caucasus (2025)
- ZooKeys
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - 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 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - First Nordic record of Pandava laminata (Araneae: Titanoecidae), with a synopsis of anthropochorous species of spiders in Finland (2025)
- Arachnologische Mitteilungen: Arachnology Letters
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Four new species of Mygalomorphae (Araneae) from Tajikistan and Afghanistan (2025)
- Journal of Natural History
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) attacking and eating vertebrates: an update (2025)
- Journal of Arachnology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - New data on the spider fauna of Iran (Arachnida: Araneae), Part XII (2025)
- Zootaxa
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - New records of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Azerbaijan, including the first record of Nephilidae from the Western Palaearctic (2025)
- Arachnology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - New taxonomic and faunistic data on Moroccan spiders (Arachnida: Araneae), including the description of five new species (2025)
- Zootaxa
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Persian treasures: integrative taxonomy reveals high species’ diversity of ladybird spiders (Araneae: Eresidae: Eresus) (2025)
- Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Size matters: a new genus of tarantula with the longest male palps, and an integrative revision of Monocentropus Pocock, 1897 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Eumenophorinae) (2025)
- ZooKeys
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Velvet Revolution: integrative taxonomy of South Caucasian Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Eresidae), with five new species (2025)
- Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - A checklist of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Afghanistan (2024)
- Zootaxa
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - A new genus of Oecobiinae (Araneae: Oecobiidae) from Iran and Central Asia (2024)
- Journal of Natural History
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - An extensive review of mutualistic and similar ecological associations involving tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae), with a new hypothesis on the evolution of their hirsuteness (2024)
- Journal of Natural History
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - A survey of mygalomorph spiders (Araneae: Atypidae, Nemesiidae) of Azerbaijan, including the description of two new species (2024)
- Zoology in the Middle East
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)



