Wall  Crab  Spiders - Superfamily:   Selenopoidea
      Colloquially known as 'Flatties', the Selenopoidea contains one family itself divided into 9 genera with a total of 281 species as of November 2023. Only two species of the mostly Australian endemic genus: Karaops are found in the Northern Rivers.  As the generic name suggests these spiders have a rather squashed appearance allowing them to crawl underneath rocks and loose bark.  Their colouring is mostly drab browns, creams, greys and blacks with both body and legs of a mottled appearance.  Size  varies considerably among species and bodylengths between 3 - 23 mm have been recorded.  Most come in at the smaller half of that range, though.
      Selenopids can be found in areas with sub-tropical to tropical climates worldwide.  Some species - particularly those in the Genus: Selenops - have a broad distribution while most species in the other genera tend to be rather localised as is often the case with spiders in general.  Fossils, (of Selenops spp.) have been found in a number of locations including North America and Europe and have been dated at up to 56 My old which places them as originating at the start of the Eocene era.  Much more recent sub-fossils of a species in the Genus: Garcorops have been found in Madagascar. The species concerned is not necessarily extinct however.
      Flatties are typical 'hunting' spiders with strong sturdy legs which afford them a turn of speed that is said to be unmatched in the natural world.   Amongst animals with legs, that is.  Relative to size, they can run faster than most other animals and on top of that, these spiders can turn and pounce on their prey in 1/8th of a second which is three times faster than the blink of an eye.  

Family:   Selenopidae

      Karaops manaayn
      Karaops raveni  -  Raven's Flattie
Taxonomy:
​​​​​​
Phylum:   Arthropoda   (Arthropods)
          > Subphylum:   Chelicerata   (Chelicerates)
                    > Class:   Arachnida   (Arachnids) 
                                        > Order:   Aranea   (Spiders)
                                                  > Suborder:   Araneomorphae   (Typical Spiders)
                                                            > Infraorder:   Entelegynea   (Entelegyne Spiders)
                                                                      > Superfamily:   Selenopoidea   (Wall Crab Spiders)
                                                                                > Family:   Selenopidae  (Wall Crab Spiders)
 ​                                                                                                             > Genus:   Karaops
                                                                                                                        > Species:   K. manaayn
                                                                                                                        > Species:   K. raveni - Raven's Flattie

*  =  likely
^  =  possibly
References  and  links:
​
>      Bosselaers, J.,  (2004).    'A new Garcorops species from Madagascar copal (Araneae: Selenopidae).'   (PDF).   Zootaxa. 445: 1–7.    doi:10.11646/zootaxa.445.1.1
>      Crews, S.  and  Harvey, M.S.,  (2011).   'The spider family Selenopidae (Arachnida, Araneae) in Australia and Asia.'   ZooKeys. 99. 1-104.   10.3897/zookeys.99.723. 

      https://www.mindat.org/taxon-5645.html
​      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eocene
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenopidae

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