Spiders have a bit of a PR problem: they are widely reviled and almost universally feared. It’s no wonder arachnids remain largely understudied—despite being masterpieces of evolutionary design.
Spiders have a bit of a PR problem: they are widely reviled and almost universally feared. It’s no wonder arachnids remain largely understudied—despite being masterpieces of evolutionary design.
First coming to land over 420 million years ago, spiders established themselves on every major continent except Antarctica. To date, they are one of the most diverse groups of animals, and present a host of brilliant adaptations that have gotten them through at least four mass extinction events...Phiddipus regus, the Regal Jumping Spider, is one of the largest jumping spiders on Earth despite being, at most, a couple inches long. With one of the largest brain-to-body ratios of any arachnid, and eyes that push the limits of physics, there's more to these creatures than just a scary face.
