Giant prehistoric spider fossil found in China

Ancient Nephila jurassica spider found in volcanic ash

Scientists have released details outlining a discovery of a giant spider found embedded in ancient volcanic ash located in Inner Mongolia, China. The ancient fossil discovery is helping scientists unveil more secrets of the past and connect the dots to the present.

The 165-million-year-old spider, a female, contained tufts of hairlike fibers on its legs according to LiveScience (courtesy of Yahoo News) and contained a body measurement of one inch with legs reaching 2.5 inches long.

The arachnid,

Paul Selden, director of the Paleontological Institute at the University of Kansas and an author of the study, told LiveScience "[these findings help us] understand the evolution of the insect-spider predator-prey relationship."

Spiders are an integral part of modern ecology, keeping insect populations manageable, and are considered to be the most populous predator on land. This finding is helping scientists further piece together both the spider and insect evolution from prehistoric times. Scientists can use this evidence to determine how insects evolved since, if bugs were to survive, they had to figure out how to avoid the massive spider webs.

The finding also provides insight on climate changes over millions of years. The discovery of the giant spider is additional evidence China was more of a tropical region in archaic times since these spiders reside in warm and humid climates.

The volcanic ash helped preserve the spider's makeup, showing even fine details.

National Geographic reports ChungKun Shih, a co-author in the study, stated "Compared to all other spider fossils, this one is huge." Shih also said " When I first saw it, I immediately realized that it was very unique not only because of its size, but also because the preservation was excellent."

Farmers discovered the fossil in 2005, but the information was released in a study published on April 20 in the journal Biology Letters. The online version of the research was posted on April 16.