Current:Home > MyAustralian scientists discover rare spider fossil that could be up to 16 million years old -Wealth Momentum Network
Australian scientists discover rare spider fossil that could be up to 16 million years old
View
Date:2025-04-12 23:01:17
Scientists in Australia made a discovery last week when they found the fossilized remains of a trapdoor spider, the largest to date in the country.
The fossilized spider was found near Gulgong, New South Wales, by a team of scientists led by Matthew McCurry, a paleontologist with the University of New South Wales and the Australian Museum Research Institute.
“Only four spider fossils have ever been found throughout the whole continent, which has made it difficult for scientists to understand their evolutionary history," McCurry said in a news release. "That is why this discovery is so significant, it reveals new information about the extinction of spiders and fills a gap in our understanding of the past.”
The discovery is also the biggest of all the fossilized spiders found in Australia, Queensland Museum arachnologist Robert Raven said, according to the release.
“The closest living relative of this fossil now lives in wet forests in Singapore through to Papua New Guinea. This suggests that the group once occupied similar environments in mainland Australia but have subsequently gone extinct as Australia became more arid,” McCurry said in the release.
The fossil measures just under an inch, according to the research paper, but trapdoor spiders are usually smaller in size.
Researchers said the spider - named Megamonodontium mccluskyi - is estimated to be between 11 and 16 million years old. It was discovered at the McGraths Flat, an Australian research site, and is believed to be the first fossil of the Barychelidae family found worldwide, the Australian Museum said in the release.
The fossil remains at the museum for researchers to study.
What does the fossil look like?
The spider, named after Simon McClusky who found it, is similar to a trapdoor spider. According to Raven, 300 species of the brush-footed trapdoor spiders are alive today but don't fossilize.
Professor at the University of Canberra Michael Frese described the creature as having hair-like structures on its appendages that sense chemicals and vibrations. He said it helps the spider defend itself against attackers and to make sounds.
Researchers said it is the second-largest spider fossil found in the world, nearly one millimeter smaller than the Mongolarachne jurassica that roamed in modern-day China.
In the U.S., the brush-footed trapdoor spiders are found between Virginia, Florida and California, according to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson. Typically, the spiders feast on arthropods and small lizards and are killed by parasitic wasps.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- 'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
- 'All day hydration': Gatorade expands sports drink brand with new Gatorade Water
- Chiefs star Chris Jones watches opener vs. Lions in suite amid contract holdout
- Nicki Minaj Returning to Host and Perform at 2023 MTV Video Music Awards
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- Italy’s government approves crackdown on juvenile crime after a spate of rapes and youth criminality
- From spaceships to ‘Batman’ props, a Hollywood model maker’s creations and collection up for auction
- Kentucky misses a fiscal trigger for personal income tax rate cut in 2025
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- Man shot during Lil Baby concert in Memphis: What to know
Ranking
- Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
- Indianapolis officer gets 1 year in prison for kicking a handcuffed man in the face during an arrest
- Maker of the spicy 'One Chip Challenge' pulls product from store shelves
- Kroger to pay $1.2 billion in opioid settlement with states, cities
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Nicki Minaj paints hip-hop pink — and changes the game
- When is Apple event 2023? How to watch livestream, date, start time, what to expect
- Judge orders Louisiana to remove incarcerated youths from the state’s maximum-security adult prison
Recommendation
Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
Women credits co-worker for helping win $197,296 from Michigan Lottery Club Keno game
Texas paid bitcoin miner more than $31 million to cut energy usage during heat wave
Danelo Cavalcante escape timeline: Everything that's happened since fugitive fled Pennsylvania prison
What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
Maria Sharapova’s Guide to the US Open: Tips To Beat the Heat and Ace the Day
'Deeply disturbing': Feds recover 90 dogs, puppies in raid on Indiana dog fighting ring
After body slamming student during arrest, Georgia school police chief placed on leave