US fossil spins web of intrigue

The ancient cousins of modern spiders could have been spinning webs 55 million years before the reign of the dinosaurs, a scientist says.
What appear to be silk-spinning structures have been found on the body of an ancient arachnid fossil.

The 300-million-year-old creature, Aphantomartus pustulatus, could have used silk threads to trap prey.

It is a trigonotarbid, part of a group of ancient arthropods that were among the first animals to colonise land.


Trigonotarbids are not true spiders but are thought to be related. If they really could spin webs - which some scientists doubt - they may be more closely related to spiders than previously thought.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Jeez! What is it with Spiders today? It's just an unhappey coincidence, but it's got me worried. They're the last things I want on my mind.

i wonder if they were dino sized spiders...like 50 pound 6 foot tranchula.....that would be scary

That wouldn't be scary, that would be # YOUR PANTS, RUN FOR YOUR #ING LIFE AND NEVER HAVE A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS... kind of thing.

I remember seeing this earlier...(older thread)....the fossil spider find...will have to dig it up...

Personally, I'd have the same reaction to a 50 foot spider...

RUN!!!