One Earth, One Life..

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Ancient web spins evolution story

The oldest-known spider web with prey still entrapped has been found preserved in a chunk of amber in Spain.

The mesh of silk strands snaring the remains of a fly, beetle, mite and wasp, dates back 110 million years to the time of the dinosaurs.

The fossil web appears to have been designed along the same lines as the round nets woven by modern spiders.

The find, described in Science, sheds light on the early evolution of spiders and the insects they fed on.

The web consists of some 26 silk strands preserved in a thin layer of amber together with arachnid prey.

Although it is not intact, enough of the web structure has survived to convince its discovers - from the University of Barcelona, Spain, and the American Museum of Natural History, New York, US - that it was probably a classical wheel-shaped, or orb, web. It is possibly the oldest spider web on record; an earlier single strand of spider silk preserved in Lebanese amber has been discovered although it is unclear if this was part of a true web.

"The advanced structure of this fossilised web (from Spain), along with the type of prey that the web caught, indicates that spiders have been fishing insects from the air for a very long time," said Dr David Grimaldi of the American Museum of Natural History.

"Spiders today have a huge impact as predators on insect populations, along with birds and bats."

Ancient web spins evolution story

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

guide to real estate investing book piano music lesson books find high school classmate how to gain weight fast warcraft 3 cheat How to Get Rid of Trojan Virus california court records dream weaver 8 tutorial How To Become A Video Game Tester Exercise to Build Muscle to Burn Fat how to get rid of mole (skin mole) sign of a cheating husband first date idea Caring for Pet Rabbits building a koi ponds Tropical Fish Guide Easy Healthy Mediterranean Diet Recipe Free take care a bonsai tree how to train a german shepherd bichon frise care potty training for puppy dog basic discus fish care how to take care of betta fish cat behavioral problem proper care for ferrets Raising Rats as Pets selling house with no realtor help for child bed wetting how to attract humming birds how to build a chicken coop