Wednesday 26 February 2014

Scientists discover 'jellybean' spider on Darling Downs

The new species of jellybean goblin spider.TWO new species of spider have been discovered on the Darling Downs.

Scientists from the Queensland Museum discovered the jellybean goblin spider at Dalby.

They also discovered the Leichhardt reddish brown swift spider in the Bunya Mountains.
"Working with the Goblins was very exciting because of the extraordinary biodiversity of these tiny spiders," Queensland Museum Terrestrial Environments (Arachnida) Research Fellow Dr Barbara Baehr said.

Queensland Museum Head of Natural Environments Dr John Hooper said Australia was a mega-diverse country with numerous species, many endemic, which means there are many more unique and incredible species to discover.

"A mega-diverse country refers to the 17 countries in the world that have more than 70% of earth's species," Dr Hooper said.

"In terms of endemic plant species, we are the fifth most diverse country in the world and in terms of endemic reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals, we are the most diverse."

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