New Spider Species, Whitsunday Hinterland Pelican Spiders, Found Hunting for Prey
Scientists have discovered a new spider species – and the animals are looking for their next meal. Dubbed Whitsunday hinterland pelican spiders, these creatures are a “bizarre group” of predators found in Australia, according to a brand new study.
Discovery of Whitsunday Hinterland Pelican Spiders
Over the past year, Australian researchers visited Conway National Park in Whitsunday, Queensland, several times to survey local wildlife and search for pelican spiders, also known as Austrarchaea.
Pelican spiders, which are sometimes referred to as “assassin spiders,” feed on other creatures by capturing and manipulating them with their “long, spear-like” legs, according to a study published on May 14 in the peer-reviewed Australian Journal of Taxonomy.
Uncovering a New Species
The experts were searching for the “poorly researched” pelican spiders in the park and found eight unfamiliar-looking spiders, the study said. The researchers then realized they had discovered a new species.
Features of Whitsunday Hinterland Pelican Spiders
Austrarchaea andersoni, or the Whitsunday hinterland pelican spider, has a reddish-brown color and an unusual body shape. The spiders are just over 0.1 inches long and have two pairs of “rudimentary horns” and “hump-like” bumps on their abdomens. Pictures in the study show the spiders perched on a branch, able to pull in and extend their legs.
Habitat and Identification
The scientists identified the new species by the spiders’ physical features, including its body shape compared to other pelican spiders. The study reports that the spiders live in the leaves on the rainforest ground. So far, the creatures have only been found in the Queensland park where they were first discovered.
Preservation and Further Research
The Whitsunday hinterland pelican spiders examined in the study are now being preserved in 75% ethanol at the Queensland Museum in South Brisbane. Researchers have not yet provided a DNA analysis of the new species.
New Discoveries in the Natural World
The discovery of the killer spiders comes as another creepy creature was recently identified – but it existed millions of years ago. A Ph.D. student recently discovered a fossil that is the oldest ancestor of modern-day scorpions, spiders, and horseshoe crabs. The fossils, which were originally found in the early 2000s, date back 478 million years, bridging the gap between modern creatures and the Cambrian period 505 million years ago.