GIANT CAVE SPIDER DISCOVERED IN MEXICO IS THE SIZE OF A SOFTBALL AND PROWLS ONLY AT NIGHT
BY KRISTIN HUGO ON 2/1/18 AT 4:34 PM
The first sign of a newly identified Mexican spider was an enormous, shed exoskeleton hanging from a cave ceiling.
Biologists were exploring the grotto in a mountainous region outside of La Paz in Baja California Sur, Mexico, when they found the light, papery remnant of a creature the width of a softball, Smithsonian reports. Later, they returned to the cave at night to find three, active, live spiders. That’s when they thought they had a new species on their hands.
It was 2013 when they first found the spiders, which they took back and examined. Since then, several more have been found in human-made mine shafts. The hairy, brownish animal features a yellow back and has an inch-long body, but with the long legs, it spans four inches across.
Researchers at the San Diego Museum of Natural History, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, and University of Campinas published a paper on the new species in the journal Zootaxa.
More:
http://www.newsweek.com/giant-cave-spider-discovered-mexico-size-softball-prowls-only-night-797600?piano_t=1
Science:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/122855640
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They are fascinating and do us a great service. They just trigger some sort of primal extreme creepiness I need to overcome.
