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Awesome new clawed cave spider discovered in Oregon
Despite a pretty decent population and a lot of people scanning nearly every corner of the US, a discovery in an Oregon cave proved that there are still new things to be discovered. The newly found family of spiders, Trogloraptor marchingtoni are unique in that they have fold-up claws on the ends of their arms they use to snatch prey— hence the “raptor” part of the family name.
It’s an apt name for a spider with unique hooks, or claws, on its legs, which the researchers believe are used to snatch flying insects, like midges, out of the air. With its legs outstretched, the spider measures up to 3 inches (8 centimeters) long.
“They’re biggish,” Griswold said. “But when you’re in a cave and it’s dark and there’s only the beam of your head lamp, they look much bigger. It’s quite astonishing to see them hanging from a few threads.” [Gallery: Spooky Spiders]
Griswold and his colleagues think that the newly discovered spiders hang from the underside of caves on simple webs, waiting to snatch a meal with their astonishing sicklelike legs. The few specimens Griswold and his graduate student Tracy Audisio have reared in the lab, though, haven’t eaten anything. “It seems very shy,” Griswold told OurAmazingPlanet.
The spider also has poisonous glands, although there’s no evidence that it is dangerous to humans.
Griswold said this discovery could help explain why there are legends about giant spiders living in caves in this region. And perhaps there are other similar species yet to be found; many caves, especially in the western United States, remain little studied.
116 notes
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smashleyprotege reblogged this from hauntedharlequinn and added:
NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE...
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hauntedharlequinn reblogged this from scienceyoucanlove and added:
by awesome you must mean fuCKING TERRIFYING OH MY GOD THATS A FUCKING SPIDER WITH CLAWS OF ALL THINGS I QUIT LIFE IM...
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sicariuswolf reblogged this from naturepunk
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sladinforever reblogged this from andyraesmith and added:
This new species was founded in caves only a few hours from my town of GP, Oregon. I’m pretty proud to be an Oregonian...
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andyraesmith reblogged this from naturepunk
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sancheck reblogged this from runicbasso and added:
Huh. Well, that’s neat.
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scienceyoucanlove reblogged this from ziptart and added:
Lovely :)
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ain-soph-eh reblogged this from kadecorreia and added:
mighty cool
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kadecorreia reblogged this from fuckme-bradtollman and added:
evolution and adaptation at work hey cease
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falmyrion reblogged this from kri-sempai and added:
DO WE REALLY NEED MORE SPIDERS?! ajkdhfhuiedgjkdfb
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