Oregon New Spider Species

By tony leather, 20th Aug 2012 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/3p8-eir5/
Posted in Wikinut>News>Environment

This is such a rare event that since 1990 only two other spider families have been found, this newly discovered type the first native North American one since 1890.

Oregon New Spider Species

New Spider

In southern Oregon caves in the USA, cave explorers and scientists were delighted to make the very rare discovery of an entirely new taxonomic - the group above species and genus - family of spiders.

This is such a rare event that since 1990 only two other spider families have been found, this newly discovered type the first native North American one since 1890, according to researcher Charles Griswold - California Academy of Sciences - lead author of the study.

Named Trogloraptor marchingtoni, after Neil Marchington, who first discovered the spider, thus far it is the only member of this family discovered, genus name, Trogloraptor, meaning, quite literally, cave robber, an apt name for an arachnid with unique hooks, or claws, on its legs.

Researchers believe these features are used to snatch flying insects from the air, and since, with legs outstretched, these spiders measure up to 3 in, they make efficient hunters, in the dark of the eerie caves. It is thought that these newly discovered spiders hang from the underside of caves on simple webs, waiting to snatch a meal.
Also having poisonous glands, which are apparently not hazardous for humans, these creatures could easily, over time, have given rise to local legends of giant cave spiders, as stumbling across them in the dark might be quite upsetting.

There may well be similar species yet to be found, as lots of western United States caves remain little studied, and such finds are historic moments, fascinating to arachnologists, who are especially excited about this new species, because it has two rows of teeth, or serrula, unlike any other spider species. The prospects are good for finding even more members of this new spider family, and eager research is ongoing.

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Meet the author

tony leather
mainly non-fiction articles, though I do write short stories, poetry and descriptive prose as well. Have been writing for over ten years now