how long have tarantulas been around?

[JungleGuts]

it was for laughs smart guy. in fact, why would I go and prove the obvious non-existence of a deity when it's perfectly acceptable for Christians to NOT prove that he does exist?

We all know by now you dont believe in God, and im pretty sure we all dont care. Ya tons of people believe in God and tons of people dont, big deal thats not news.

 

[ShadowBlade]

it was for laughs smart guy. in fact, why would I go and prove the obvious non-existence of a deity when it's perfectly acceptable for Christians to NOT prove that he does exist?

Because your logic is flawed. You can no more prove he does not exist, then we can prove he does.

And you may want to check the religious debate threads to see my view on Science and God before jumping to any conclusions.

hey shadow blade, does the flying tarantula monster exist?

I cannot say he doesn't. Although, giving your basis for stating this question, I'd believe it to be unlikely.

-Sean

 

[KaineSoulblade]

Look at all those worms.

 

[treeweta]

[QUOTE

As far as the "giant spider" from millions of years ago goes, I don't think anything larger than the largest present day tarantulas ever existed. I just think tarantulas and spiders in general are survivors, and if there was this "giant spider," it wouldnt have gone extinct.[/QUOTE]

when considering the maximum size for land invertebrates you have to consider those alive today, the largest is a crab who are way heavier than the largest insects and spiders, I suppose these have been able to get large due to their inherently thicker skeletons. The largest non crab land arthropods include T blondi, goliath beetles, the stick insect 'Heteropteryx' and the new zealand giant weta 'Deinacrida', all these 'giants' are more in the 2oz/50g category rather than the crabs multi pound category!! Interestingly when you see blondi, heteropteryx and even the rare Deinacrida (and i have seen all 3 alive, yes even the Deinacrida!) they seem quite cumbersome and probably close to the limit of size that natural selection imposes upon them. Under water its a different kettle of fish, the aforementioned eurypterids could reach a couple of meters long if im not mistaken.

 

[Stylopidae]

As far as the "giant spider" from millions of years ago goes, I don't think anything larger than the largest present day tarantulas ever existed. I just think tarantulas and spiders in general are survivors, and if there was this "giant spider," it wouldnt have gone extinct

when considering the maximum size for land invertebrates you have to consider those alive today, the largest is a crab who are way heavier than the largest insects and spiders, I suppose these have been able to get large due to their inherently thicker skeletons. The largest non crab land arthropods include T blondi, goliath beetles, the stick insect 'Heteropteryx' and the new zealand giant weta 'Deinacrida', all these 'giants' are more in the 2oz/50g category rather than the crabs multi pound category!! Interestingly when you see blondi, heteropteryx and even the rare Deinacrida (and i have seen all 3 alive, yes even the Deinacrida!) they seem quite cumbersome and probably close to the limit of size that natural selection imposes upon them. Under water its a different kettle of fish, the aforementioned eurypterids could reach a couple of meters long if im not mistaken.

There are are stick insects larger than Heteropteryx. There is a stick from australlia that can reach nearly 2 feet IIRC.

That thread I posted explains it pretty well and there's even more research online if you google the researchers mentioned in the thread.

it was for laughs smart guy. in fact, why would I go and prove the obvious non-existence of a deity when it's perfectly acceptable for Christians to NOT prove that he does exist?

hey shadow blade, does the flying tarantula monster exist?

Dude, I'm one of the most outspoken athiests on here and even I want you to shut up.

These topics are routinely tackled here.

Post a new topic there, but you're quickly driving this thread off topic into a territory where it doesn't need to go. At least not in the tarantula forums.

 

[Stylopidae]

OK folks...the God debate can be ended by simply reading my signature. :worship:

As far as the "giant spider" from millions of years ago goes, I don't think anything larger than the largest present day tarantulas ever existed. I just think tarantulas and spiders in general are survivors, and if there was this "giant spider," it wouldnt have gone extinct.

At one time there were dragonflies alive with wingspans measured in feet, not inches.

Read the thread I posted earlier.

 

[sntcruzan]

They have been here since the beginning of creation,when God placed them on the Earth.

 

[Drachenjager]

:clap: :clap:

Dude, I'm one of the most outspoken athiests on here and even I want you to shut up.

Post a new topic there, but you're quickly driving this thread off topic into a territory where it doesn't need to go. At least not in the tarantula forums.

:clap: :clap: :clap: darn i hate smiles but i figgured Cheshire needed the clap for that
wait i meant applause !

 

[JMoran1097]

no no, i merely originally stated my "God doesn't exist" statement on page 1 for laughs. it really had no purpose in this and that's obvious. hell, i even said that. when people perpetuate the "God" argument by resurrecting what I've already said just because they get offended, they themselves are doing the damage, not me. if you don't want this "God" argument to continue, don't bring it up. how many times do I hafta say that I was orginally joking? it's a sensitive subject and I remember someone saying that it shouldn't turn into an Evolution vs. Creation subject so i purposely brought God into it. Chesire, start at the beginning of the thread and read before criticizing

 

[Stylopidae]

Chesire, start at the beginning of the thread and read before criticizing

I did.

The OP was asking a serious question that isn't quickly answered through the search function, therefore the 'Jesus with dinosaurs' joke wasn't really warranted.

The joke was neither funny nor was it intelligent. It was also completely un-needed and didn't do anything to answer the question.

Any further comments should be made through PM. I just cleaned out my inbox.

 

[Drachenjager]

Well i did expect when you ask how long somehting has been here to get differing answers due to some people KNOWING the earth os something like 4.5 billion years old and others KNOWING the earth is only 6-10 thousand years old. But really, is it that hard to respond simply:
I believe in young earth so in that regard Tarantulas have been around about 6-10 thousand years. OR
I believe in old earth OR I believe in evolution OR based on the estimated age of fossils of tarantula like animals they have been around XX years.

I dont see where any argument needs to take place about it then. But i do understand that there are animate differances of opinion there. And i can guarantee one thing about it and that is this: at least one of those views is wrong lol
I believe its impossible for the earth to be both only 10000 and at the same time be at least 4 billion years old

But what i dont really understand is how the size of a tarantula n the past has anything to do wiht the age of tarantulas...Maybe its just me but i think the physics, and biology of limiting factors of invertibrates is really a differant topic of discussion than how old they are... at least on the scale of how long they have been around lol Not saying that a young T is as big as an old T of the same species ...you know what i mean there i am sure. I dont think there is anyone on the boards that i would call stupid. granted we are all human (at least thats my theory) and as such we do stupid things from time to time.
ok now thats enough of that lol

 

[Stylopidae]

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=91855

 

[Mister Internet]

JMoran, ENOUGH please.

Anyway, please continue this discussion ON TOPIC... if it continues, I'll move it to TWH, since you all can't seem to help yourselves lately.

Carry on.

-MrI

 

[Drachenjager]

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=91855

yeah thats the one that size belongs in
for a little while i thought i had been reading both at the same time ROTFLOL

anyway. Id say that we have already covered the OP's question....
some a bit more eloquently than others. and some a little more passionate than others but at least its been covered....

so for a sumation , the general scientific consensus is somewhere between abot 300 million and 30 million years depending on how precise you want to get into Tarantula vs Myglamorph

and the young earth creationist view is about 6000 years .

 

[treeweta]

I started blabbing about arthropod size as it tied in with the 'not actually' a giant spider fossil that I linked to and that tied in with how long have they been here. The question we are looking to answer is when did the last common ancestor of all those spiders we call tarantulas last live, and that will include the american, african, asian and australian Theraphosidae. Evidence for that answer in fossil form is probably almost zero as most things dont get fossilised, the best bet is using those molecular clock techniques that will probably (assuming that they are monophyletic and were present before gondwana split) tally with being older than the gondwana split. And If im talking nonesense I am willing to listen to any geologists/biologists. Out of curiosity I just wonder how big the biggest T ever was, theres no reason whatsoever to assume that those we see today are the largest that have existed.

 

[Slash]

At one time there were dragonflies alive with wingspans measured in feet, not inches.

Read the thread I posted earlier.

Yeah, but I thought we were talking about inverts/arachnids here. Plus like I said, that was just my personal belief. I got nothing to prove it.

 

[Stylopidae]

Yeah, but I thought we were talking about inverts/arachnids here. Plus like I said, that was just my personal belief. I got nothing to prove it.

That thread explains why those giant inverts aren't around today and gives people who are interested in the subject several vital stepping stones to pursue research in the area. If you're interested in the topic, read it.

That entire thread is about invertebrates.

 

[mr_jacob7]

let me just say that God doesn't exist, so no, this shouldn't become an evolution debate.

Okay, i just gotta say... ur NUTS, if you beleive that that statement will not start a debate. PLAIN NUTS!

just had to get taht out of teh way...

(and God exists. he's watching us right now!)

 

[mr_jacob7]

no no, i merely originally stated my "God doesn't exist" statement on page 1 for laughs. it really had no purpose in this and that's obvious. hell, i even said that. when people perpetuate the "God" argument by resurrecting what I've already said just because they get offended, they themselves are doing the damage, not me. if you don't want this "God" argument to continue, don't bring it up. how many times do I hafta say that I was orginally joking? it's a sensitive subject and I remember someone saying that it shouldn't turn into an Evolution vs. Creation subject so i purposely brought God into it. Chesire, start at the beginning of the thread and read before criticizing

oh, if it was a joke, sorry. i shoulda read teh whole thing. (sorry!)