Meet Chimerarachne Yingi, A 100-Million-Year-Old Spider-Like Creature… With A Tail
IFLScience••science
Key Points:
- Researchers studied two male fossils to understand spider evolution and the sequence in which their traits developed, using microscopy and 3D imaging to analyze fine details.
- The fossils had spinnerets and silk spigots like modern spiders, along with a narrow waist (pedicel), but retained a segmented abdomen, a feature absent in current spiders.
- A distinctive whip-like appendage, called a flagelliform telson, was present on the fossils’ rear, suggesting a previously unknown lineage of tailed spider-like creatures that coexisted with modern spiders.
- The tail may have served multiple functions, such as sensory navigation, defense, distraction, or escape, similar to tails in whip scorpions and lizards.
