Mastodawn

1-Apr-2026
A 500-million-year-old clawed predator rewrites the origin of #spiders and #horseshoeCrabs

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1121624

#science #evolution #ecology #arachnids #arthropods

A 500-million-year-old clawed predator rewrites the origin of spiders and horseshoe crabs

Harvard researchers reveal the earliest known Chelicerata in a new study published in Nature. The 500-million-year-old fossil, named Megachelicerax cousteaui, provides unequivocal evidence of chelicera, a feature never before seen in Cambrian arthropods. The discovery pushes back the origin of chelicerates by at least 20 million years and proves their distinctive body plan emerged during the Cambrian explosion.

EurekAlert!

neville park 1d ago

#MiteMonday: A delightful surprise at the pines at the very southeast corner of Trinity-Bellwoods! These spiky little anystoid mites, which I *suspect* are Erythracaridae, were racing up and down the trunks and hiding under the edges of the flakes of bark.

(These chunky pines—not white pine; red pine or jack pine or something like that—have bark with large flat flakes, unlike the more open and vertical furrows in the bark of willows, oak, etc. There are certain arachnids that seem to be particularly associated with these pines, like _Eris floridana_, _Tutelina harti_, and Opiliones when they are very big, and I guess the microhabitats formed by the bark may be why.)

#bugstodon #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #Acari #Acariformes #Anystoidea #Erythracaridae

Anthony 1d ago

Paraphidippus Aurantius - as you can tell from the name and photo, aura farming is this jumper’s specialty. #macromonday

Fujifilm X-H1
Laowa 65mm f2.8 2:1 macro lens
Godox V350f flash
AK diffuser
Steady hands and patience

S.S. 1/125
f/11
ISO 500

#photography #fotografie #fotografia #photographie #nature #naturephotography #macro #macrophotography #arachnids #spiders #spooders #upclose #fujifilm #lightroom