Possibility of the existence of the Congolese giant spider

I've just had a sleepless night because i found tiny spider on my bed,and I'm very paranoid about spiders.I would probably just fall in a coma at the sight of something like that.Who knows what lurks in the earths darkest corners.

Ok, so here we are, with the possibility that we may find a new species that is living high on the hog in the jungles and completely unknown to us. We know that fish can grow extremely large depending upon the environment they live in. We know that our oxygen supply has diminished causing critters to be smaller and also we are nearing our 26,000 year travel across the center of the Milky Way galaxy (the galactic plain) which is placing huge gravitational stress upon our solar system and the earth, also causing critters and humans to be smaller.

Have you watched "8 Legged Freaks" lately ? I hate spiders to begin with. Brown Recluse and Black Widows are both nasty creatures. Also Camel Spiders from the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan just make me cringe.

You all just go hunt the big ones on your own and leave me at home. Thank You!

reply to post by Evisscerator


I had wondered about the gravitational forces acting on the Earth myself, it is easy to forget about the affects of such forces being altered by our position in space.

I have seen some pictures of Camel spider bites they are truly horrible although not often fatal. There have been reports from Iraq War vets of these spiders being able to run alongside APCs doing about 30kph.



Bolt cutter like pincers..... Shudder

I have never heard of this cryptid before. Goliath bird-eating spiders are the largest spiders. But I believe it is possible for larger arachnids to exist.

After all, the largest land-living arthropod can reach the described size. It is the coconut crab Birgus latro.

Reports about the size of Birgus latro vary, but most references give a body length of up to 40 cm (16 in), a weight of up to 4.1 kg (9.0 lb), and a leg span of more than 0.91 m (3.0 ft), with males generally being larger than females. There have been reports in the literature of specimens measuring 6 feet (1.8 m) across the thorax and weighing 30 pounds (14 kg). They can live more than 30 years .

en.wikipedia.org...



In the TV series Walking with the monsters Megarachne was presented as the largest spider, which ever lived on earth. But Megarachne was no spider. It has been reclassified as eurypterid (sea scorpion).

I think its also valid to point out that male spiders are usually smaller than the female due to the speed & distance over obstacles they travel to find a mate including 'bridging' which is where the male produces silk that they use like a kiteless twine in the air to get from one location to another hence they often NEED to remain small enough to do so & hence the female cant be too much bigger.
With Tarantulas which dont bridge the size obviously is bigger.
The largest recorded T's are the Goliath & pink footed Goliath (believed to reach a max of 13inches leg span.

I keep & breed T's & must point out that they may look 'horrific' to some but I find them amazing & beautiful. Current biggestest is my brazilian salmon pink bird eater at 7" & can reach 10" when fully grown but taking into account that spiders have been around as long as the dinos I think they've had long enough to evolve & in my opinion evolve to they maximum size needs.

Saying that I love the idea of scientists or anyone finding something bigger than the goliath (Theraphosa).

Great thread!

Originally posted by Big Raging Loner
reply to post by Evisscerator

 

I had wondered about the gravitational forces acting on the Earth myself, it is easy to forget about the affects of such forces being altered by our position in space.

I have seen some pictures of Camel spider bites they are truly horrible although not often fatal. There have been reports from Iraq War vets of these spiders being able to run alongside APCs doing about 30kph.

Bolt cutter like pincers..... Shudder

There are a lot of incorrect myths about these spiders.

I say, go spider - you have an equal chance of survival with us.

And you may win - because you have not sinned.

You have lived your innocent life.

We have not.

reply to post by Drunkenshrew


Thanks for the info! I particularly like the complete juxtapose between the initial visualisation of that giant spider, with the conclusion of it being a sea-scorpion

Happens a lot though I suppose like how velociraptors had feathers, and the Iguanodon went from a carnivore on all fours to and upright herbivore!

reply to post by dubs2000uk


I have to say although I don't have a phobia of spiders (I'm usually the only one who'll pick them up and take them outside ) I find Tarrantulas to be the least frightening of the bunch.

I think it may be the fine hairs all over making them seem almost cuddly... If you know what I mean.

reply to post by Big Raging Loner


Although those hairs most T's have are their main deffence. They are irritant & they kick them off their abdomen to irrate the eyes, skin & airways.

Saying that I have a King Baboon T which doesnt have hairs, grows to 9", stands on hind legs & hisses when feels threatend.

dam, 6' spider! lol, i heard that one, it's accused of eating the dogs too.

who knows, the locals think so.

so that really has to suck to be captured by one of them.

paralyze you and drag you back into the hole, inject the stuff to turn your insides into soup while you can't move but haven't died of fright yet.



but the worst part comes when you realize you're not MOM's dinner!

muhahhahhaah!

This doesn't sound any less possible than Big Foot or the Lock Ness Monster to me. But at this point those animals not being caught or at least photographed is very unlikely.

I am going to look into how heavily populated the area is and see if there is a large enough area for an animal this large to roam nearly undetected. But I guess it will turn out to be something like like Big Foot> (Which I truly hope exsist) but it probably don't.

My arachnophobia is screaming to me. I'm scared of itty bitty spiders that are barely visible a 5 foot spider is just... Beyond scary... It's Shelob. Quick save Frodo and the Ring!


Oh come on Giant spiders its Begging for a lord of the rings reference.

Originally posted by dubs2000uk
reply to post by Big Raging Loner

 

Although those hairs most T's have are their main deffence. They are irritant & they kick them off their abdomen to irrate the eyes, skin & airways.

Saying that I have a King Baboon T which doesnt have hairs, grows to 9", stands on hind legs & hisses when feels threatend.

Well that certainly throws out the cuddly theory! I had heard of the hairs being used in that manner but I've thankfully never witnessed it in action!

Here is a link to a pic of the chicken eating spider!

althouse.blogspot.com...

www.bbc.co.uk...

This spider could potentially replace the Goliath as the worlds largest known species.

It is interesting that the Congolese Giant Spider would take a similar structure to this. As it is believed to be Tarantula like in nature. This is what I struggle to reconcile with myself as I would think a spindly legged very thin spider would be more likely to reach the size described in the OP.

There are around 800 species of Tarantula spider in the world - at least those are the ones that have been discovered.

It is estimated that there could be just as many unknown species in the rainforests, tropical scrublands and savannas around the world.

The Chicken Spider has been confirmed as one of these new species. Identified as being within the genus Pamphobeteus.

It would appear the chicken spider has also cast doubt on some long held theories about the nature of Tarantulas.

For instance, tarantulas are supposed to be strictly solitary creatures. Usually baby spiders - or spiderlings - quickly disperse once they emerge from the nest. This is because a mother tarantula's maternal instincts don't last long once the spiderlings have hatched. She starts looking for food, having fasted during the incubation period. Any spiderlings remaining in the nest find themselves on the menu!

The Chicken Spider, not only tolerates its offspring shortly after they have hatched, it shares its burrow with several generations of its progeny. Up to 50 spiders in one burrow and a thriving, healthy population in the surrounding forest. Here is evidence that this remarkable spider subdues any aggressive responses to its fellow burrow inhabitants and has actually learned to cooperate in prey capture, allowing for the predation of larger animals than would be possible if it were alone.

I love that we are still learning things like this, it would make me quite depressed to think we had conquered every corner of this planet and discovered every secret!

reply to post by dubs2000uk


dubs was wondering if you could take a look at this video and possibly name the species?



It would appear that the tour guide has suggested it to be a chicken eating spider but he may have been trying to impress the tourists.

reply to post by Big Raging Loner

I have a uncle who served in the british army in the late 70s and always talked about how big the spiders were in the congo,i never took any notice
but i will ring him tonight and see if i can get any information for you
,great thread star and flag ,i have being on a little trip in my mind what ended with me being eating,lol
I love crypto stuff,

[edit on 13-8-2010 by johnny c]

Oh boy. Now, I wish I didn't read this. My skin is crawling. Could you imagine something like this feeding on a human?

reply to post by Skid Mark


That has probably happened somewhere down the line

I bet its not a pretty sight to say the least.

Officially creeped out.

I won't lie, I had to put my feet on my foot stool to read this post, but the story of Chicken Spiders hunting in packs?

STOP.

Seriously, that's enough.

It's bad enough having to imagine encountering ONE of these beasties, let alone being mugged by a gang of them.