Mongolarachne
Mongolarachne was a big spider that lived in the time of the dinosaurs, about 165 million years ago. Its body was about as long as your thumb. It is the biggest spider ever found as a fossil.
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Fun facts
Only two fossils of it have ever been found, one female and one male.
Its name means spider from Mongolia, because the fossils were found in Inner Mongolia, China.
The female's front legs were about 5.5 centimetres long.
Someone once made a fake fossil of a second kind of Mongolarachne from a fossil crayfish, but scientists found out the trick.
Most asked questions about Mongolarachne
?How big was Mongolarachne?
The female's body was about 2.5 centimetres long, and her front legs were about 5.5 centimetres long.
?When did Mongolarachne live?
In the Jurassic, about 165 million years ago, when dinosaurs walked the Earth.
?Where was Mongolarachne found?
In northeastern China, in rocks made of fine volcanic ash.
Myth buster
Myth: Mongolarachne was a golden orb-weaver, like the Nephila spiders of today.
Truth: That is what scientists first thought. When a male fossil was found, they saw it was a more distant cousin, so it got its own new name.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Mongolarachne
- Named by
- Selden, Shih & Ren, 2013
- Group
- Prehistoric giants
- Family
- Mongolarachnidae
- Classification
- Arachnida > Araneae > Mongolarachnidae
Where the facts come from
- Mongolarachne (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Paul A. Selden. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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