Spider Fossil Found In China’s Daohugou Region
February 13th, 2010 - 8:49 pm ICT by GDBy Ranjan Bhaduri
Feb 13, (THAINDIAN NEWS) It would be wrong to assume that only gigantic reptiles and dinosaurs ruled the earth millions of years ago when the ancestors of modern man were nowhere in sight. Tiny insects also used to exist in Jurassic period in large numbers. The theory has received a boost after some scientists have unearthed wonderfully preserved fossils of a species of spiders in China. According to the scientists who have found the rare fossils, the species of spider used to live on the Earth in middle Jurassic period. It was almost 165 million years back. It is amazing that the fossils have survived the tests of time.
A Kansas based paleontologist named Paul Seldon found the remains of the ancient spiders. The remains were discovered in the Daohugou region of China. The region is replete with the fossils of various types of animals and reptiles as well. While several instances of fossilized remains of dinosaurs have been found worldwide, insect fossils are rare as the soft body of the arachnids get destroyed faster. Since the fossil of the spider was preserved in volcanic ash, it was left unaffected by the ravages of time and climate.
The scientist who has found the fossil also said that the detail in the fossil is breathtaking and one can learn a lot about the body structure of the spider species with the help of a microscope. The species of the spider is known by the name Eoplectreurys Gertschi. The finding of the species in China can be found in a journal named Naturwissenschaften. The spider species can be seen in Arizona, Mexico, Cuba and California.
- 165 million years old spider fossil found - Feb 10, 2010
- Possibly the oldest spider fossil found in China - Feb 13, 2010
- Biggest ever spider fossil found in Mongolia - Apr 21, 2011
- Fossilized primitive pregnant lizard found in China - Jul 21, 2011
- Chinese paleontologists discover large feathered dinosaur - Apr 06, 2012
- 140-150 mn-year-old dinosaur footprints found in Beijing - Jan 09, 2012
- Largest-ever fossil spider from Jurassic era found - Apr 21, 2011
- Newly discovered species of dinosaur bridges gap in dinosaur family tree - Apr 13, 2011
- Fossil of new dinosaur species found in China - Oct 10, 2010
- Scientists find car-sized turtle fossil - May 18, 2012
- Dinosaur fossil discovered in China - Apr 15, 2012
- 160mn-yr-old pterodactyl fossil solves dino sex riddle - Jan 21, 2011
- First parrot-sized dino with only one finger discovered in China - Jan 25, 2011
- 'Giant flea fed on dinosaur blood like mosquitoes' - May 02, 2012
- Tiny fossil part reveals biggest-ever toothed pterosaur - Oct 16, 2011
Tags: arachnids, body structure, earth millions, insect fossils, mexico cuba, middle jurassic period, million years, modern man, paleontologist, ranjan, rare fossils, ravages of time, seldon, species of spider, species of spiders, spider species, tests of time, tiny insects, types of animals, volcanic ash