 However, "Mygale" had already been used in 1800 by Georges Cuvier for a genus of mammals (in Greek, "mygale" means "shrew").Accordingly, in 1869, Tamerlan Thorell used the family name "Theraphosoidae" (modern Theraphosidae) for the mygalomorph spiders known to him, rather than "Mygalidae" (as used, for example, by John Blackwall).Thorell later split the family into a number of genera, including "Theraphosa".