The remarkable fossil of Megamonodontium mccluskyi. (Michael Frese)
Science Alert has a story about a spider fossil from Australia. This new species of spider, Megamonodontium mccluskyi, dates to the Miocene, which lasted from 11 to 16 million years ago. The fossil was found in a locality called McGraths Flat located in a grassland in New South Wales. McGraths Flat is classified as a Lagerstätte due to the exceptional fossil preservation known from the area. The fossil spider was described in the journal Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
"Only four spider fossils have ever been found throughout the whole continent, which has made it difficult for scientists to understand their evolutionary history. That is why this discovery is so significant, it reveals new information about the extinction of spiders and fills a gap in our understanding of the past," says palaeontologist Matthew McCurry of the University of New South Wales and the Australian Museum.
"The closest living relative of this fossil now lives in wet forests in Singapore through to Papua New Guinea. This suggests that the group once occupied similar environments in mainland Australia but have subsequently gone extinct as Australia became more arid."
