Amber-preserved web shows early spider evolution

[WhiteTara]

I wonder how the fundies react to articles like this

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-06-22T162951Z_01_N22199574_RTRUKOC_0_US-SCIENCE-SPIDER.xml&archived=False

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tiny piece of spider web, frozen in a drip of tree sap 110 million years ago, shows spiders that wove perfect orb webs evolved much earlier than had been believed, scientists reported on Thursday.

A second study looking at spider genetics suggests that web-weaving arachnids evolved as long as 136 million years ago, in the Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs roamed and mammals were small, scurrying things.

snip

"This is the oldest record of an actual web with prey items in it," Grimaldi said in a telephone interview.

The amber contains 26 web strands grasping a mite, a fly, a wasp leg and a beetle. Droplets of web glue are visible.


Undated photo provided by the journal Science showing an Orb web of an araneoid spider, Argiope trifasciata, in Palo Alto, Calif. Will you walk into my parlor, more... (Science, Mark Chappell / AP)(I thought this was a picture of the web in amber, but no...and of course I have no idea how to delete it, so enjoy. I find it interesting that the amber contained 26 strands and in the photo, I only counted 16)

[kestrel91316]

1. That''s not an Argiope trifasciata. It's Satan himself.

[WePurrsevere]

2. I love Amber & own a few pieces. Each piece is a tiny little time capsule.

Considering how delicate one thinks of a spiders web as being it's sort of amazing that one was preserved so well as the pine sap ran over it. B-)