Plate-sized spider among 1000 new species!!

With all the species going missing and becoming extinct in the world, its great to see that we are still finding some new ones

Scientists have discovered more than 1,000 species in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region in the past decade, including a spider as big as a dinner plate, the World Wildlife Fund said.

A rat thought to have become extinct 11 million years ago and a cyanide-laced, shocking pink millipede were among creatures found in what the group called a "biological treasure trove".

Sure wouldnt like to mess with that spider, link to full story below

news.ninemsn.com.au...



[edit on 15/12/2008 by OzWeatherman]

*This post was erroneous and removed by beaverg*



[edit on 15-12-2008 by beaverg]

[edit on 16-12-2008 by beaverg]

reply to post by beaverg


Ummm, I actually did post the link before you posted your reply, and know it is a completely different area and expedition

The species were all found in the rainforests and wetlands along the Mekong River, which flows through Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan.

Sorry Weatherman. Without the link available I quickly assumed it was the same discovery that was announced earlier this month. I killed your post so I'll post the image hoping they illicit one liner responses about protecting the rainforest.

The 12 inch spider.

reply to post by beaverg


Yup thats definitely a reason right there to mow down all the rain forests and cyanide laced millipedes.The quicker we nuke the rain forests the better.

reply to post by Azador


Totally, I've heard about the giant catfish (9ft 650lbs) that live in the Mekong River in that same region. That's just asking for trouble when you protect them. I'm thinking of an all out assault armed with a deep fryer, anyone down?

Also, check out this photo of the dragon millipede that's got cyanide:

for some reason i remember reading all millipedes(even those ones in your backyard) have cyanide or some sort of poison in them- that is why nothing eats them. as for catfish- monsterquest did a show on giant fish but never mentioned the wels which lives in the danube and can grow over 15' and has been found with human body parts in it time to time but that would be another thread

Originally posted by beaverg

The 12 inch spider.

Whoa! I had to put back my eyeglasses. Because for a moment there I thought I was seeing a tasty, Dungeness crab instead of a long-legged spider.

Disclaimer: Actually, I try to avoid eating crabs. They just remind me of spiders, only with eight crunchy legs!

[edit on 2008-12-16 by pikypiky]

personally i hate spiders- been bitten by them a few times- but they do do justice in insect control. same as bats (but i love bats). but destroying entire species is wrong. even tho i love to hunt and fish it is not right to wipe them out. and when we lose our rain forests we are in a world of hurt

reply to post by bigfoot1212


I hope you know that I was only kidding about hunting the new and endangered species to near extinction for the sweet juicy giblets of fried meat they're made of, right?

So far I've seen a really siiick looking green snake, and that spider.. but where are the pictures of the other 1000 species!!! I'm looking around and cannot find any pictures!

Originally posted by bigfoot1212
personally i hate spiders- been bitten by them a few times- but they do do justice in insect control. same as bats (but i love bats).

Uggghhh bats

I can stand them, they poo all over my car, and due to all the fruit they eat, they have acidic faeces, meaning if its left to long, the paint can come off.

Spiders are great, unless you are trying to catch them to put them outside, and everytime you go to put a glas over them, they hop/ jump around....then its frustrating. There's nothing like a huge wolf spider bouncing around to send the girlfriend into hysterics

[edit on 16/12/2008 by OzWeatherman]

This doesn't surprise me in the least. And I'd say that their discoveries in this region are just beginning.

We would run across some of the strangest things in the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia that I ever saw. Some of the strangest behaviors I could ever contemplate.

Anytime you see something that is bright red, yellow, neon green, and even blue, you know that is one bold SOB, and it's a good thing to stay away from. I have seen spiders there that would choke a horse, but never thought about whether it was a known species or not. Odd looking animals that I have no idea what they would even be related to.

Lizards that cry like humans, and millions of long-legged spiders covering over an acre, in a lens-shaped arrangement, and in the middle of the lense, they would be waist-high, piled on each other, working alive.

Was picking my teeth with a stick for a few minutes before his legs unfolded, and he scared the **it out of me. Ants that make fireants look like amateurs.

It's not a healthy place under the best of conditions, but for dedicated scientists who can travel in small groups and keep from getting eaten by big cats, they can discover thousands and thousands of new species.

I'm certainly not going back.

I wouldn't want to meet that spider in my house, but I guess that's not likely to happen. I've had a few (Okie Brown) tarantulas as house guests, but they are rather docile and I didn't have any trouble escorting them back outside. Huntsmans are a bit more aggressive I think..

Anyway, it is interesting to see that we still don't know everything about the world or what's in it. Maybe a few people will even have a second thought about poo-pooing cryptozoology after reading this.

reply to post by Heike


Lol, you should have seen the wolf spider that visited me (bouncing around it was actually) on christmas night. It was huge (about a 12cm leg span, not the biggest i seen but big enough to be running loose in the house).... I manged to trap the little bugger between the louvre windows in my passageway where the little friggin thing decided to break open the large egg sac it was carrying under its belly (which i failed to notice the first time). So I spent the next 2 hours crushing hundreds of spiderlings running all over the place.

I had the last laugh though when I gave the mother a huge dose of flyspray