2023-09-29 19:00:00
A fossil of a huge spider that lived millions of years ago has been found in Australia. Scary !
It’s an arachnophobe’s worst nightmare. A few weeks ago, a spider fossil was discovered by a team of paleontologists in an area that was home to a rainforest in New South Wales – also called McGraths Flaten – in Australia. According to an article published Monday September 25 in Science Alertthis fossil of Megamonodontium mccluskyi turns out to be only the fourth spider fossil found on the continent. Beyond its rarity, this discovery has another spectacular aspect, since it is a “giant” specimen. The Australian team took body measurements of this Megamonodontium mccluskyi, and the least we can say is that they are impressive. His body alone measures 2.3 centimeters. Adding the size of its legs, the insect barely fits in the palm of a hand.
Also, the quality of its conservation, 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 smallest details.
Science at the service of history
Virologist Michael Frese from the University of Canberra, who scanned the fossils using stackable photomicrography, explains how this spider works. “Scanning electron microscopy allowed us to study the smallest details of the claws and bristles on the pedipals, legs and the main body of the spider“, he tells the media. And to continue about the functioning of this specimen: “Les bristles [poils très denses] are hair-like structures that have multiple functions.” In addition to being able to produce sounds, their presence above all offers protection to the spider against dangers by detecting the presence of chemicals and vibrations.
An exceptional discovery
The rarity of this find and the lack of reference make the work of scientists complex. “That’s why this discovery is so important”insisted Michael Frese. “It reveals new information about the extinction of spiders and fills a gap in our understanding of the past“, adds the man of science. Millions of years later, a relative of this species still lives, but on a different continent. “[Ce “cousin”] now lives in rainforests from Singapore to Papua New Guinea. This suggests that the group once occupied similar environments on mainland Australia, but that it subsequently extinct as Australia became more arid.”
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