School Project about Tarantulas

[Nephrite]

Hey! I'm doing a presentation talking about an ancestor of an animal that is currently alive today. I chose Tarantulas, and I've been trying to do research on their prehistoric parents but I couldn't find anything conclusive. I know Tarantulas have been around for millions of years, but they had to come from a lesser evolved organism longer ago right?

My directions:
Choose a living organism that is alive today
Determine who the organism is most likely descended from
Highlight some of the changes that have happened overtime
PROVE IT

Anything helps, thanks!

 

[viper69]

It sounds to me this is your homework assignment, and thus you will be graded on the merits of your work/efforts, not ours. Have fun!

 

[Ashlynn Rose]

Try Google Scholar, and search "evolution of tarantulas," "Mesothelae" or whatever you need information on. It will only give you academic sources, which can be helpful. It sounds like an interesting project. Have fun!

 

[Bob Len]

Wikipedia is your friend.

 

[Polenth]

The issue is you've made your life hard by picking an animal with few fossils that has retained a lot of ancestral features from early spiders. The literature is sparse and not very accessible.

You will make your life easier if you switch this to something like jumping spiders. Their big evolutionary change is looking right at you and there are multiple traits associated with that. You'll also find more articles about their evolution.

 

[MissouriArachnophile]

Maybe easier to go with a chicken or turkey. Wikipedia can direct you toward sources don't use wikipedia as a source/reference itself and cite your sources. G.L