[quote=BBC]
[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52259000/jpg/_52259026_spider_selden_304.jpg[/img]
Scientists say a fossilised spider from the Inner Mongolian region of China is the biggest yet found.
The female, which lived about 165 million years ago, belongs to a collection of spiders well known today - the golden orb weavers.
These creatures make webs from a very tough and distinctively golden silk.
The researchers tell the journal Biology Letters that Nephila jurassica, as they have called their specimen, would have had a leg span of some 15cm.
"She is the largest known fossil spider," said Professor Paul Selden from the University of Kansas, US.
"Her body is not the biggest, but if you add in her long legs then she's the largest," he told BBC News.
Today's Nephila species are found around the globe in tropical and sub-tropical regions.
Until this new fossil turned up in Inner Mongolia, the most ancient example from this grouping, or genus, was about 35 million years old.
So, this discovery pushes the existence of the Nephila back to the Jurassic Period, making them the longest ranging spider genus known.
No-one can say for sure how this particular arachnid met her end, but she may have succumbed to a natural catastrophe.
The spider was encased in volcanic ash at the bottom of what would have been a lake. Perhaps the ash fall from an eruption pulled her from her web and smothered her. Whatever the circumstances of the spider's end, the preservation of detail today is exquisite.
"You see not just the hairs on the legs but little things like the trichobothria which are very, very fine. They're used to detect air vibrations. There's a very distinct group of them and they're a very distinct size which is typical of this genus, Nephila," Professor Selden explained.
Nephila females today weave some of the largest orb webs known, up to 1.5m in diameter. The great prowess of the females stands in stark contrast to the rather diminutive males of the genus. Their small form makes the females look like giants.
This disparity in size is an example of what biologists refer to as extreme sexual dimorphism.
Professor Selden and his colleagues are keen to find out whether this characteristic holds true for the ancient Nephila, too.
"The previous oldest Nephilid is a male from the Cretaceous Period found in Spain. That male is normal sized, whereas in the present day the females are giants," the Gulf-Hedberg distinguished professor of invertebrate paleontology at Kansas said.
"So, it looks like we may have this dimorphism going back this great length of time. We'd like to find a male in the deposit to confirm this. All the evidence would suggest the male would be normal size, but we haven't yet located one."
[/quote]
Source:
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13134505[/url]
Damn nature, you are scary.
"whereas in the present day the females are giants"
Well, bye everyone. I'm going to space.
Burn the fossils before they come back and kill us all.
[QUOTE=Del91;29331189][img_thumb]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52259000/jpg/_52259026_spider_selden_304.jpg[/img_thumb]
Gah.[/QUOTE]
[img]http://images2.memegenerator.net/ImageMacro/6904967/Fuck-that-shit.jpg?imageSize=Medium&generatorName=Yao-Ming-Problem[/img]
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("Image macro" - Craptasket))[/highlight]
What about the ones off the record?
:ohdear:
[QUOTE=Del91;29331189][img_thumb]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52259000/jpg/_52259026_spider_selden_304.jpg[/img_thumb]
Gah.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the image.
We should resurrect the son of a bitch and cage it.
Because even if it's a fossil it scares the living shit out of me.
Someone needs to make a 3d model and do a size comparison. So i can cry and never sleep again.
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;29331482]We should resurrect the son of a bitch and cage it.
Because even if it's a fossil it scares the living shit out of me.[/QUOTE]
It's a girl.
Oh jesus fuck they should put the fossil in a cage just to be safe
Agoraphobics (Silly Chrome!) beware!
Everyone chill the fuck out, I'm calling in the clowns, their shoes are big as fuck we got this
[img]http://shoes.bestwebdeals.info/images/clown-shoes.jpg[/img]
i can't thank you enough for making them so small today, evolution
[QUOTE=imadaman;29331262]What about the ones off the record?
:ohdear:[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Q: What is the World's biggest spider?
A: The Goliath Birdeater!
Native to the rain forest regions of northern South America, these spiders have up to a 30 centimeter (12 in) long leg span when fully extended and can weigh over 120 grams. Wild goliath birdeaters are a deep burrowing species, found commonly in marshy or swampy areas. Goliath birdeaters usually live in burrows in the ground that they have either dug themselves or have been previously abandoned by rodents or other similar creatures.[/QUOTE]
Oh wow, if these existed real life, I'd scream and run as fast as I could if I ever saw one.
I am even scared by the small spiders...
This came to mind
[img]http://www.vfs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/star1.gif[/img]
[QUOTE=captainHOE;29332371]This came to mind
[img_thumb]http://www.vfs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/star1.gif[/img_thumb][/QUOTE]
Starship troopers reference fuck yes.
[QUOTE=Daniellynet;29332220]Oh wow, if these existed real life, I'd scream and run as fast as I could if I ever saw one.[/QUOTE]
They do exist. They're just dead.
Fuck. I'm already freaked out by the ones smaller than the eraser on a pencil. I'd have to carry a gun if those types of spiders still lived.
We need to start bringing dinosaurs back.
I remember an article a year or so ago where scientists were able to actually clone a woolly mammoth, but it died shortly after birth.
Do that, except without complications. Dinosaurs could come back. But if you are going to be a buzzkill, I guess we could bring back dodos or some shit.
[URL="http://io9.com/#%215735293/the-first-mammoth-cloning-experiment-is-officially-underway"]http://io9.com/#!5735293/the-first-mammoth-cloning-experiment-is-officially-underway[/URL]
[url]http://www.facepunch.com/threads/1050646-Scientists-trying-to-clone-the-Mammoth-back-to-life?highlight=mammoth[/url]
[QUOTE=Uberman77883;29332722]We need to start bringing dinosaurs back.
I remember an article a year or so ago where scientists were able to actually clone a woolly mammoth, but it died shortly after birth.
Do that, except without complications. Dinosaurs could come back. But if you are going to be a buzzkill, I guess we could bring back dodos or some shit.[/QUOTE]
Nobody's cloned a wooly mammoth yet.
[QUOTE=Uberman77883;29332722]We need to start bringing dinosaurs back.
I remember an article a year or so ago where scientists were able to actually clone a woolly mammoth, but it died shortly after birth.
Do that, except without complications. Dinosaurs could come back. But if you are going to be a buzzkill, I guess we could bring back dodos or some shit.[/QUOTE]
That was a sheep.
:downsbravo:
[QUOTE=Uberman77883;29332722]We need to start bringing dinosaurs back.
I remember an article a year or so ago where scientists were able to actually clone a woolly mammoth, but it died shortly after birth.
Do that, except without complications. Dinosaurs could come back. But if you are going to be a buzzkill, I guess we could bring back dodos or some shit.[/QUOTE]
Mind showing us this article?
[QUOTE=Murkat;29335573]Mind showing us this article?[/QUOTE]
He won't because he is retarded, I should know.
