A new species of eight-eyed tarantula with a “Satan” attitude and a 3-foot “cryptic” snake lurking in swamps have recently been discovered and are the stuff of nightmares.
Scientists discovered the strange hairy spider in the mountains of central and western Ecuador while searching for new species of tree spiders in 2021, according to a study published this week in ZooKey.
officially named Psalmopoeus satanasor Satan tarantula, because of its notoriously “bad temper,” the spider was located under a bamboo tree but refused to be captured without a fight.
The arachnid tried, unsuccessfully, to defend itself from the researchers and tried to flee with “rapid, sporadic movements, almost too fast to see,” according to the study.
When they brought the creature to the lab, scientists discovered unique physical characteristics and determined that it was an entirely new species.
According to the study, the dark brown Satan tarantula measures just under 2 inches long, has eight eyes and eight legs covered in “golden” hairs.
The Satan tarantula found in the Andes mountains of Ecuador is named for its “bad temperament.” Zoo keys
Scientists at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito “became very attached” to the specimen while studying it despite its “bad temperament and sporadic attacks.”
“Psalmopoeus satanas is appropriately named because the initial individual collected had an attitude!” The study’s lead co-author, Pedro Peñaherrera-R. he told McClatchy News via email.
Species of the genus Psalmopoeus are poisonous.
The study says the spider species should be considered “critically endangered” due to the threats its ecosystem currently faces, such as illegal mining and agricultural industries. It lives in the Andes Mountains between 2,800 and about 3,100 feet, the researchers said.
Half a world away, in the mangroves of central Myanmar, a new snake was also recently discovered slithering in the dark.
Ayeyarwady vipers are venomous and can grow up to more than 3 feet long. It lives in the mangrove forests of Myanmar. ZooKeys/Photographs by A. Malhotra
Green snakes were first misidentified as a known species of viper in 2000; However, subsequent DNA analysis of the “cryptic” creatures revealed that the animals belonged to a “distinct species,” according to another study published this week in ZooKey.
The researchers studied 19 specimens and determined that the snake was a unique species: Trimeresurus ayeyarwadyensis, or Ayeyarwady viper, named after a local river.
Ayeyarwady vipers can grow more than 3 feet long. They are light green on the back and white on the belly with eyes that range “from deep red to gold,” the researchers said.
Like all vipers, they are poisonous.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn