Meet Trogloraptor: America’s Newest Cave Spider
A cave-dwelling creature named Trogloraptor sounds like the villain of a B horror film, but it’s actually a newly discovered type of spider.
A team of scientists discovered the spindly armed arachnid in caves and old-growth forests of Oregon and California and reported the find today in the journal ZooKeys. Because of its unique evolutionary features, Trogloraptoridae is not just a new species or genus, but a new family of spiders. The name Trogloraptor, meaning “cave robber,” seems a fitting moniker.
The spider is about 1.5 inches wide with its legs stretched out, bigger than a half-dollar coin. It was found living in loose strands of web hanging from cave ceilings and under forest debris. It wields a set of lethal-looking claws, but its hunting and fighting behaviors remain to be seen.