A new species of eight-eyed tarantula with a “Satan” attitude and a “sneaky” 3-foot snake that lurks in the swamps have been discovered recently – and it’s the stuff of nightmares.
Scientists discovered strange hairy spiders in the mountains of central and western Ecuador while hunting for a new species of tree spider in 2021, according to a study published this week in ZooKey.
Officially named Psalmopoeus satanor Satan’s tarantula, because of its “bad temper”, the spider lies under a bamboo tree but refuses to be captured without a fight.
The arachnid unsuccessfully tried to fend off the researchers and tried to escape with “rapid, sporadic movements, almost too fast to see,” according to the study.
When they brought the animal back to the lab, scientists discovered unique physical characteristics and determined it was a new species entirely.
The dark brown Devil Tarantula measures just under 2 inches long with eight eyes and eight legs covered in “golden” hair, according to the study.
The Devil Tarantula found in the Andes mountains of Ecuador is named for its “bad temper.” ZooKeys
Scientists at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito “really liked” the specimen when they studied it despite its “bad behavior and sporadic attacks.”
“Psalmopoeus satanas is aptly named because the early individuals collected had an attitude!” co-lead author of the study Pedro Peñaherrera-R. told McClatchy News via email.
Species of the genus Psalmopoeus are poisonous.
The study said that the spider species should be considered “critically endangered” because of the threats its ecosystem currently faces, such as illegal mining and the agricultural industry. It lives in the Andes mountains between 2,800 feet and about 3,100 feet, researchers said.
Half a world away in the mangrove swamps of central Myanmar, a new snake was also recently discovered slithering in the dark.
The Ayeyarwady pit viper is poisonous and can grow to more than 3 feet in length. It lives in the mangrove forests of Myanmar. ZooKeys/Photographs by A. Malhotra
The green snake was first mistakenly identified as a known species of venomous snake in 2000, however, later DNA analysis of the “cryptic” creature revealed that the animal belonged to a “different species,” according to another study published this week in ZooKey .
Researchers studied 19 specimens and determined that the snake was its own unique species: Trimeresurus ayeyarwadyensis, or Ayeyarwady viper — named for the local river.
Ayeyarwady pit viper can grow more than 3 feet long. They are light green on their backs and white on their bellies with eyes that vary “from crimson to golden,” the researchers said.
Like all venomous snakes, they are venomous.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
