Twenty Million Year Old Spider Unearthed

London (UK):
Paleontologist Dr David Penney from the Manchester University in England has discovered a 20 million year old spider that was embedded in amber and was thus preserved in a near perfect state.
Dr Penney found the specimen when he was visiting the Museo del Ambar Dominicano, in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. "It's amazing to think that a single piece of amber with a single spider in it can open up a window into what was going on 20 million years ago," he commented.
Penney has used two droplets of blood found in the amber to accurately assess the age of the specimen. The School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences academician said that he had used the blood to find out how, when and where the spider had died. He said that it was his belief that the spider was climbing a tree all those years ago when it was caught in a fast flowing resin and thus died.
He added that the position of the blood droplets showed the direction in which the spider was traveling. "By analyzing the position of the spider's body in relation to the droplets of blood in the amber we are able to determine how it died, which direction it was traveling in and even how fast it was moving," he said. The 4cm long and 2cm wide fossils dates back to the Miocene period.
There is a dearth of information about this period and the spider could help solve some puzzling questions. It is also possible that the DNA of the spider could be analyzed for further information. The spider is a new member of the filistatidae family that is common to the Caribbean and South American regions.
The details about this find can be found in the latest issue of the journal Palaeontology.
Oct 02 , 2005
Mike Burns, Earthtimes.org

To Read More:
Dr David Penney's Research paper
University of Manchester
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences