Posted: 10/09/2012 8:54 am EDT Updated: 10/09/2012 4:22 pm EDT
If you've always wondered what a 100-million-year-old spider attack might look like, today is your lucky day.
According to a newly published paper, researchers at Oregon State University have found the "only fossil ever discovered of a spider attack on prey caught in its web." The amber-encased spider is poised to devour a tiny parasitic wasp.
“This was a male wasp that suddenly found itself trapped in a spider web,” George Poinar Jr., a professor emeritus of zoology at the university, said in a written statement. “This was the wasp’s worst nightmare, and it never ended. The wasp was watching the spider just as it was about to be attacked, when tree resin flowed over and captured both of them.”
Researchers say both the spider and the wasp belong to extinct genera. They added that the "extraordinarily rare" find may provide invaluable insight into the behavior of ancient spiders.
Read more @: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/09/ancient-spider-fossil-100-million-amber-spider-attack_n_1949261.html
If you've always wondered what a 100-million-year-old spider attack might look like, today is your lucky day.
According to a newly published paper, researchers at Oregon State University have found the "only fossil ever discovered of a spider attack on prey caught in its web." The amber-encased spider is poised to devour a tiny parasitic wasp.
“This was a male wasp that suddenly found itself trapped in a spider web,” George Poinar Jr., a professor emeritus of zoology at the university, said in a written statement. “This was the wasp’s worst nightmare, and it never ended. The wasp was watching the spider just as it was about to be attacked, when tree resin flowed over and captured both of them.”
Researchers say both the spider and the wasp belong to extinct genera. They added that the "extraordinarily rare" find may provide invaluable insight into the behavior of ancient spiders.
Read more @: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/09/ancient-spider-fossil-100-million-amber-spider-attack_n_1949261.html