12 January 2010
Image courtesy of Yael Olek, University of Haifa.
Haifa, Israel (dpa) — A newly-discovered species of spider may be facing extinction, scientists at Israel's University of Haifa said Tuesday.
The spider, a member of the Cerbalus genus, was discovered in sand dunes in southern Israel by a team of biologists from Haifa University, and given the name Cerbalus aravensis. Greyish, with black bands on its "knees," the spider's leg-span can reach up to 14 centimetres, which makes it the largest of its type in the Middle East.
According to the university, while scientists do not yet have enough details to perform a full analysis of the spider's biology and of its population, they do know that it is nocturnal, mostly active in the hottest months of the year, and that it constructs an underground den which is closed with a "lifting door" made of sand particles that are glued together to camouflage the den.
However, the university warned, the spider's habitat — known as the Sands of Samar — could be subject to extensive mining in the future.
Doctor Uri Shanas, who heads the team of scientists who discovered the spider, called for the dunes to be preserved. "The new discovery shows how much we still have to investigate, and that there are likely to be many more species that are unknown to us. If we do not preserve the few habitats that remain for these species, they will become extinct before we can even discover them," he said.
Source: Earth Times / dpa.
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