| Michael G. Rix | |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Workplaces: | Queensland Museum |
| Alma Mater: | University of Western Australia |
| Thesis Title: | Taxonomy and systematics of the Australian Micropholcommatidae (Arachnida: Araneae) |
| Thesis Url: | https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/publications/taxonomy-and-systematics-of-the-australian-micropholcommatidae-ar |
| Field: | biology, zoology, arachnology |
| Thesis Year: | 2009 |
| Author Abbrev Zoo: | Rix |
Michael Gordon Rix is an Australian arachnologist, whose publications mainly concern spiders.
, he was Principal Curator of Arachnology and Research Fellow in the Biodiversity and Geosciences Program at the Queensland Museum.[1] He has held numerous professional appointments including President of the Society of Australian Systematic Biologists and Associate Editor of the Journal of Arachnology. He is widely published and cited.[2] The World Spider Catalog lists 166 species names and 22 genus names authored or co-authored by Rix, . Pseudoanyphaena michaelrixi, discovered in 2003, was named after him.[3]
His interest in spiders developed as a boy.[4] He has interest in Australian trapdoor spiders and his research into their decline over the past decade.[5] [6]
In early 2020 Rix expressed concern over the likely extinction of the assassin spider — Zephyrarchaea austini — also called the pelican spider, which is only known to occur in the Western River Wilderness Protection Area on Kangaroo Island, as a result of the catastrophic 2020 bush fires.[7]