Monstrous spiders are thought to exist by villagers in south america. I read somewhere there was monstrous spiders in our deep past. Anyone can see some large spider movie. Like the movies ICE SPIDERS, and Camel Spiders. Let's ponder there is some spider, a little lager than a volleyball. And it could withstand cold to a degree. Spiders have many eggs. How do you take them out? How could a large or monstrous spider if adapted right be a threat? What could there appetite be like? Could they exist today like the villagers believe? What kind of conditions would we really need for a larger than average spider? Thought I would ask an share my thoughts and opinions with you. Hope you will do the same.
When bugs were really big the oxygen content in the earths atmosphere was much higher approaching 30%. Because of the way bugs breath, the only way they can become larger is in a high oxygen atmosphere. Therefor NO they can't exist now.
The giant Hunstman can have a legspan of 12 inches. Largest legspan spider. The Goliath Birdeater- Tarantula family- is the largest mass spider. Many insects and small spiders have no lungs. They diffuse oxygen directly. Larger spiders have book lungs- which is why they drown so danged fast. As KillJoyKlown pointed out- without a more efficient method of absorbing a lot of oxygen, their size must be limited by how much oxygen they can take in to support their size. The bigger they are, the harder time they have getting enough oxygen to all parts of the body. Our rapidfire existence of running along a serious of continuous oxygen fueled explosions enables us to dart and dash, but this is always limited by the method of oxygen extraction. To take Edit like 5 odd hours later: I just re-read this and realized I never finished the posting. Heh... Oh well, who cares.
In the movie Ice Spiders. The spiders were "engineered". But if they could survive in a low atmosphere. What type of issues could "mankind" face. Also if a spider that was "huge" had those book lungs. Suddenly went from high oxygen to the level we have. What would happen? Would they get slow an just die? And what type of lungs do the Goliath bird eater have? And why is a sand spider called a spider? They have 6 legs? Or Tashja, I guess, live on a small island. Or up high.
Well lets not forget the limitation of an exoskeleton, thank god. Spiders can't get to big or there exoskeletons will weigh so much they won't be able to move.
Yes- you'll notice the largest spider species tend to be sluggish, as well. It would asphyxiate. Book lungs. I have no idea what this Sand Spider with six legs is that you're referring to.
Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Cool picture http://www.camelspiders.net/large-camel-spider.jpg I think one spider may be eating another spider though. HEY check out this article. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/giant-middle-eastern-spider-discovered/ Scientists have unearthed a completely new species of spider hiding in sand dunes on the Israel-Jordan border. With a legspan that stretches 5.5 inches, the spider, called Cerbalus aravensis, is the biggest of its type in the Middle East. http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2010/01/cerbalus660.jpg Here is a camel spider movie web sight. http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1618372/
Camel Spider's in the movie, which I watched looked like they have 8 legs to me. However, one of the characters did mention that they had only six legs. So they weren't counting the two legs in the front that had pinchers on them. Spiders are in the arachnid family and they have 8 appendages that are usually legs, but crabs have 6 legs and 2 pincher arms. But clearly these sand spiders are not crabs. How about a new species of arachnid?Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Also below describes how spiders breathe.
In the movie, a single camel spider could leap on a man and take him down and kill him in a very short time. I thought it a bit weird that any bug about the size of a cat could so easily take a man out. But I would consider that to be monstrous.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Oh wait, are we talking about the 'chicken-killing spiders' that are supposed to live near some village somewhere in South America? I saw a piece on that on Discovery or NGC once. They pretty much debunked it. Hey, are you Dutch? Ever seen "Aliens"? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Hmm, I count eight legs...
The largest camel spiders have a leg span of about 5 to 6 inches and weigh up to 2 oz. that would be a pretty small cat. edited to add: They're bit is not poisonous either.
You know spider movies are almost as popular as shark movies.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/monstrous mon·strous ** (mnstrs) KEY* ADJECTIVE: Shockingly hideous or frightful. Exceptionally large; enormous: a monstrous tidal wave. Deviating greatly from the norm in appearance or structure; abnormal. Of or resembling a fabulous monster. ETYMOLOGY: Middle English, from Old French monstruos, from Latin mnstrusus, from mnstrum, portent, monster ; see monster OTHER FORMS: monstrous·ly(Adverb), monstrous·ness(Noun)
