In a discovery, five new species of spiders have been identified for the first time by a researcher from the University of Sulaymaniyah. These species have been officially recognized and cataloged in the global scientific community, bearing Kurdish names.

Mr. Farhad Ahmad Khudhur, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Sulaymaniyah’s College of Science, revealed that he spent the last three years discovering these new species in various parts of the Kurdistan Region, particularly around Sulaymaniyah.

His research was conducted in collaboration with Mendel University in the Czech Republic, Altai University in Russia, and under the supervision of Dr. Alireza Zamani from the University of Turku in Finland. The findings have been published in the internationally recognized journal, Zootaxa.

Khudhur announced that the new species have been named Dysdera kurdistanica, Dysdera goyzha, Palpimanus garmiyanus, Tegenaria sorani, and Zelotes hazarmerdensis, in honor of the Kurdistan Region and its specific localities: Kurdistan, Garmiyan, Soran, Goyzha, and Hazarmerd. 

Globally, over 51,600 species of spiders have been documented, with new species being continually discovered. This recent addition from Kurdistan further enriches the global biodiversity records.

During his research, Khudhur collected 74 spider specimens, out of which these five were identified as novel species. Additionally, several other genera and species have been recorded as new to the fauna of Iraq and Kurdistan, further contributing to the region's natural history.