Assassin Spider?

T_ROY

Arachnosquire
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Has anyone ever seen one of these before.
 

Moltar

ArachnoGod
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That's a pretty cool bug. Is it actually a spider at all? Tha rear section looks like a house spider but the front part looks like a... pelican.

Btw, sooner or later somebody's going to come along and move this to "true spiders..." and wag their finger at you for posting in tarantulas... Not me though.
 

enpp-

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For me it looks a lot like it's been some kind a normal spider in picture that has made to look like that. Nowadays they can do so many impossible things to look like real with computers. And I can tell it isn't so hard. :)

and spiders DO NOT have necks, 'cause they have only two parts of body :)
One thing that makes me sure is the fact that that kind a new species couldn't be found without a lot of publicity, 'cause it's so different to another spiders.

(It looks a lot like Araneus diadematus for some very close species to it.)
 

lhystrix

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For me it looks a lot like it's been some kind a normal spider in picture that has made to look like that. Nowadays they can do so many impossible things to look like real with computers. And I can tell it isn't so hard. :)

and spiders DO NOT have necks, 'cause they have only two parts of body :)
One thing that makes me sure is the fact that that kind a new species couldn't be found without a lot of publicity, 'cause it's so different to another spiders.

(It looks a lot like Araneus diadematus for some very close species to it.)
The 'neck' is merely part of it's modified carapace.

These spiders are known as long necked spiders, and both family Archaeidae and genus Archaea (guessing that's the genus the spider above is in) were first described 1854.

This isn't the first time this image was posted in a thread:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=110855
 
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Le Wasp

Arachnoknight
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pssh, this is posted in the wrong forum. It's obviously a duck.



-seriously though, where are those things from?
 

fartkowski

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These guys are really cool.
I saw a documentary on spiders and these guys were one of the species they were showing.
Pretty amazing
 

Demon187

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they are from madagascar and some have been found in parts of south africa and australia. it doesn't surprise me that it is found in madagascar but the other two places i find highly surprising. would like to see these on film. attenborough should do a whole series on different spiders before he retires. life in the undergrowth was great but how many people would love him to do 'life in silk' or 'life on eight legs' or simply 'life of spiders' i for one would love for him to do it.
 

hairmetalspider

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This seems to be the only photo on the net...

Can anyone find photos besides the one on every article?
 

Tarantula_man94

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no idea

i can honestly say that it looks unreal and like never anything ive ever seen before
 

Pulk

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they are from madagascar and some have been found in parts of south africa and australia. it doesn't surprise me that it is found in madagascar but the other two places i find highly surprising. would like to see these on film. attenborough should do a whole series on different spiders before he retires. life in the undergrowth was great but how many people would love him to do 'life in silk' or 'life on eight legs' or simply 'life of spiders' i for one would love for him to do it.
Why do you find it highly surprising that they have been found in South Africa and Australia?
 

presurcukr

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they are from madagascar and some have been found in parts of south africa and australia. it doesn't surprise me that it is found in madagascar but the other two places i find highly surprising. would like to see these on film. attenborough should do a whole series on different spiders before he retires. life in the undergrowth was great but how many people would love him to do 'life in silk' or 'life on eight legs' or simply 'life of spiders' i for one would love for him to do it.
I second this I would love to see 'life on eight legs' by David Attenborough
 

Moltar

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Hey wow, wiki says it's also called a pelican spider.

It's funny the big deal they make about it being an "assassin". It's not like this is the only spider that eats other spiders, just the only one who's fangs have evolved into spears... :eek: :worship:
 

lhystrix

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Demon187

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Why do you find it highly surprising that they have been found in South Africa and Australia?
Madagascar is home to some of the world's most unique flora and fauna. Almost all of Madagascar's reptile and amphibian species, half of its birds, and all of its lemurs are endemic to the island. (they exist nowhere else on earth). so that is why it doesnt surprise me. even tho south africa is only 300 miles west of madagascar it surprises me because it (madagscar) has been cut off, unexplored for so many years, and the fact that something as unique and highly specialised as this spider has evolved in such a place as south africa and australia. basicly, it surprises me for the exact opposite reasons it doesnt surprise me it was found in madagascar. (if that makes sense)

this means that the assasin spiders have either evolved the same way as on madagascar seperately or they have been around for more than 165 million years. because madagascar was attached to africa more than 165 million years ago. However, most of the groups of mammals and other terrestrial fauna that are well represented on Madagascar today had not evolved when Madagascar first split from continental Africa.

i hope this answered your question
 
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