It's been a while since I posted a strange animal. But I had to get that fucking silver Christmas challenge by @silverd510 over.
And now we are finally back to our regular schedule 😄
So, check out this weird ass spider I recently learnt about
Why the long face silly? 😄😂
Dunno if it looks scary or just fucking ugly 👀
To no surprise, this little fella belongs to a group of spiders (family Archaeidae) that are commonly known as pelican spiders. Another common name they come by is assassin spiders and as you will read soon for a good reason.
In case you don't get it, they are called that way because of their unusually enlogated, pelican like jaws and necks.
Interestingly, this group of spiders first became known from 40 million-year-old amber fossils found in Europe. It wasn't till the 1880s when a living individual was spotted in Madagascar. Since then, Archaeidae species have also been found in the forests of South Africa and Australia, with researchers having so far identified approximately 40 living species.
Now about the elongated mouthparts...They are used to snatch unsuspecting prey (typically other spiders) and hold it at a safe distance while at the same time injectimg venom. Than they just wait for the victim to die. And then it's time for dinner. Neat. :D
Here's a cool video with some more info on them if you would like to learn more:
Ok, this is it for today. I hope you enjoyed your daily dosage of weird. More coming soon