Big spider from dinosaur age discovered


Nephila jurassica

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Super spider from the mists of time

CHINA: The largest fossil spider discovered to date has been unearthed in Inner Mongolia, scientists reported today.

The spider, named Nephila jurassica, is a relative of modern golden orb-weavers and was around the same size, with a legspan of 15cm. It lived 165 million years ago.

Golden orb-weavers are the largest web-weaving spiders in the world, spinning webs over a metre across.

Their diet includes bats and small birds.

See also here. And here.

A golden orb-weaver spider (Araneae: Nephilidae: Nephila) from the Middle Jurassic of China: here.

Spiders protect webs with decorations: here.

Spiders, Too, at Risk in Human-Altered World: here.

2 thoughts on “Big spider from dinosaur age discovered

  1. Pingback: Biggest fossil spider, new discoveries | Dear Kitty. Some blog

  2. Pingback: Fossil ‘spider’ was dinosaur age crayfish | Dear Kitty. Some blog

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