The dollar bill looks so small in that picture.
The dollar bill looks so small in that picture.
Primitive relatives of other arachnid families may yet be discovered in the same regions, he noted, because many unique evolutionary descendants of other widespread groups live there, including coast redwoods, mountain beavers, coastal-tailed frogs, and some pseudoscorpions whose evolutionary ancestors date back 380 million years.
Since spiders are arthropods, is it possible that spiders can evolve to be as big as the biggest crabs living today?
I find this even more interesting. I wonder what makes this area so unique?
The structure of a spider won't really let them grow that big on land, and it really serves no benefit.
It's an apt name for a spider with unique hooks, or claws, on its legs, which the researchers believe are used to snatch flying insects, like midges, out of the air. With its legs outstretched, the spider measures up to 3 inches (8 centimeters) long.
"They're biggish," Griswold said. "But when you're in a cave and it's dark and there's only the beam of your head lamp, they look much bigger. It's quite astonishing to see them hanging from a few threads."
Griswold and his colleagues think that the newly discovered spiders hang from the underside of caves on simple webs, waiting to snatch a meal with their astonishing sicklelike legs. The few specimens Griswold and his graduate student Tracy Audisio have reared in the lab, though, haven't eaten anything. "It seems very shy," Griswold told OurAmazingPlanet.
The spider also has poisonous glands, although there's no evidence that it is dangerous to humans.
Griswold said this discovery could help explain why there are legends about giant spiders living in caves in this region.
First vegan spider!
I gotta look up some of these stories!
No. Their current respiratory system couldn't handle something so large.Since spiders are arthropods, is it possible that spiders can evolve to be as big as the biggest crabs living today?
Not as tasty as crabs, but damn are they beautiful.
Crabs stay on the ground and in water so they can grow to be much bigger. Spiders climb, weave webs , etc so they have a ceiling.
and then there's this
Just another angle.
Yes please.Nuke it from orbit.
I love Goliath Birdeater spiders.
and then there's this
I gotta look up some of these stories!
Spiders are ok with me, mainly, but what freaks me out about these buggers is that we don't know how or what they eat.
Spiders are ok with me, mainly, but what freaks me out about these buggers is that we don't know how or what they eat.
Since spiders are arthropods, is it possible that spiders can evolve to be as big as the biggest crabs living today?
Do you have any Goliaths, Gaborn? I have two. Both are still pretty young though.
Yes, we really need to know about stories of giant spiders hanging from the underside of caves that snatch people up by their heads with their sicklelike legs...
Just another angle.