Monstrous: The largest spider fossil ever discovered in Australia

It’s an arachnophobe’s worst nightmare. A few weeks ago, a team of paleontologists discovered a fossil spider in an area that was once home to the New South Wales rainforest – also called McGrath Flatten – in Australia. According to an article published on Monday, September 25th Science AlertThis fossil Megamodontium McCloskey It turned out to be just that A fourth fossil spider found on the continent. Besides its rarity, this discovery has another amazing aspect, because it is a “giant” specimen. The Australian team took body measurements for this megamodontium mcclusky, The least we can say is that they are impressive. His body alone is 2.3 cm long. Adding the size of its legs, the insect barely fits in the palm of the hand.

The quality of its preservation, since the Miocene era – between eleven and sixteen million years ago – has allowed scientists from the University of Canberra to study this insect in its finest details.

Science in the service of history

Virologist Michael Freese of the University of Canberra, who scanned the fossils using stackable optical microscopy, explains how this spider worked. “The electron microscope allowed us to study The smallest details of the claws and whiskers on the pedals, legs and The main body of the spider““, he tells the media. And to continue this sample work: “The ritual [poils très denses] They are hair-like structures that have multiple functions. In addition to its ability to make sounds, its presence above all provides protection to the spider against dangers by detecting the presence of chemicals and vibrations.

An exceptional discovery

The rarity of this discovery and the lack of reference makes the work of scientists complicated. “for this reason Discovery very important”Michael Freeze insisted. “It reveals new information about him The extinction of spiders fills a gap in our understanding of the past“The man of science adds. Millions of years later, a relative of this species still lives, but on a different continent. “[Ce “cousin”] It now lives in rainforests from Singapore to Papua New Guinea. This suggests that the group once inhabited similar environments on mainland Australia, but it was… They later became extinct as Australia became drier“.

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