Posted on 04/25/2011 9:25:32 AM PDT by JoeProBono
The 165-million-year-old species is a relative of today's large web weavers.
The biggest known fossil spider has been found in China, a new study says.
Measuring nearly 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) in length, the 165-million-year-old fossil was uncovered in 2005 by farmers in Inner Mongolia (see map)—a region teeming with fossils from the middle Jurassic period.
"Compared to all other spider fossils, this one is huge," said study co-author ChungKun Shih, a visiting professor at Capital Normal University in Beijing, China.
"When I first saw it, I immediately realized that it was very unique not only because of its size, but also because the preservation was excellent," Shih said.
Fine volcanic ash preserved the specimen's exquisite features, such as mouthparts and hairlike structures that covered its legs, according to the study.
These features allowed scientists to classify it as Nephila jurassica, a new species in the genus Nephila—a surviving group of spiders that weave 5-foot (1.5-meter) webs of strong, golden silk. Among the largest web-weaving spiders today, these creatures can reach lengths of up to 2 inches (5 centimeters).
cool!
Cool! But still OMG creepy, I HATE spiders. I really do.
Ping because I’m just mean like that. ;-)
You want to see a humongous spider, take a look at a freakin’ CAMEL SPIDER!!! We saw tons of these nasty buggers in Iraq. I actually watched one chase down, kill and eat a damn mouse. I used to take great pleasure in stomping them into a pile of goo anytime I saw one.
They were one of the primary reasons why we were prohibited from sleeping on the ground while we were there. The little bastards would crawl into your sleeping bag and leave a very nasty bite which almost invariably gets infected.
You killed it, you clean it!
Little Miss Muffet
Crouched on a tuffet,
Collecting her shell-shocked wits,
There dropped (from a glider)
An H-bomb beside her -
Which frightened Miss Muffet to bits.
“I’ve seen brown recluse spiders(Florida) as big as my hand..”
That was either a tarantula or you have very little hands.
Brown recluse spiders are about the size of a quarter.
(I know this because I was cleaned my shed and got bitten on the leg by a brown recluse -— not only a nasty bite, but serious infection with nasty black and purple lines going down my leg -— 3 days in the hospital.)
not a brown recluse then
The description is taken from Gertsch (1958). Adults of both sexes are similar in appearance and size, ranging from about 7 to 12 mm in body length. Adult females average slightly larger, about 9 mm compared to about 8 mm for adult males. The carapace is pale yellow to reddish brown, with a dusky brown patch just in front of the median groove (which is encompassed by a narrow, dark line); this patch is united to the front of the carapace by dusky brown stripes. In total, these markings appear in the form of a violin. In addition, three dusky patches may occur along the margin on each side. The sternum is yellowish, with other ventral body parts of the cephalothorax darker reddish brown.Maybe a wolf spider - still wouldn't want to pick it up
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on her Tuffet
Eating her curds and whey
Along came a spider
He sat down beside her
And said, “Yo, what’s in the bowl, b-—h?”
-Andrew Dice Clay
That’s the ones!!!
I normally think spiders are very cool creatures, in fact we had a pet tarantula for almost 15 years before she finally gave up the ghost. But those damn camel spiders gave me the willies!!!!
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