Hidden within the leaves of a park in Australia, a “weird”-looking creature looked for its subsequent meal, its “spear-like” appendages on the prepared.
Visiting scientists noticed the predatory animal — and found a brand new species.
Researchers visited a park in Whitsunday, Queensland, a number of occasions between 2023 and 2024 to survey native wildlife, in line with a Could 14 research within the peer-reviewed Australian Journal of Taxonomy.
They have been in search of a “weird group” of spiders scientifically often known as Austrarchaea or pelican spiders, the research stated. These “iconic” spiders are specialised predators that feed on different spiders with “lengthy, spear-like” appendages. Their looking technique has earned them the nickname “murderer spiders.”
Throughout their visits to the park, researchers discovered eight unfamiliar-looking spiders, the research stated. They took a better have a look at the animals and realized they’d found a brand new species: Austrarchaea andersoni, or the Whitsunday hinterland pelican spider.
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Whitsunday hinterland pelican spiders measure simply over 0.1 inches in size and have an uncommon physique form, researchers stated. They’ve a “tall” head with “two pairs of rudimentary horns” and an stomach with a number of “hump-like” bumps.
Photographs present the reddish-brown coloring of Whitsunday hinterland pelican spiders. When its legs are pulled in, the spider seems fairly compact and block-like. With its legs unfold out, the animal seems considerably bigger and its physique is simpler to tell apart.
When perched on a department, the brand new species virtually seems like a dry leaf, a photograph exhibits.
Whitsunday hinterland pelican spiders stay within the leaves on the rainforest floor, the research stated.
Researchers stated they named the brand new species “andersoni” after Greg Anderson, an arachnologist with the Queensland Museum who first collected it in 2023.
The brand new species’ widespread title refers back to the Whitsunday space the place it was found and, to date, the one space the place it has been discovered, the research stated. Whitsunday, Queensland, is a area alongside the northeastern coast of Australia, about 1,500 miles northwest of Sydney.
The brand new species was recognized by its physique form, genitalia and different delicate bodily options, the research stated. Researchers didn’t present a DNA evaluation of the brand new species.
The analysis workforce included Michael Rix and Mark Harvey.
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