April 12, 2021
The Indonesian archipelago is one of the world’s most beautiful archipelagos. Home to over 17,000 islands, mountains rising to over 5,000 metres, including over 70 historically active volcanoes, fabled spices, and a rich flora and fauna, Indonesia has beckoned fortune-seekers and naturalists for centuries. The shores of its far-flung islands are bathed by 2 oceans and at least 11 separate seas, making it a challenging area for hydrographers. In the late 19th century, Indonesia was administered by the Dutch and known as the Dutch East Indies.
The terrestrial flora and fauna of the area was fairly well known because of the work of the English naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace between 1862 and 1869. Wallace, also known for being credited by Darwin as having independently formulated the theory of evolution, discovered that species west of a dividing line between Borneo and Sulawesi and between the Philippines and Halmahera were more closely related to Asian species a
Among the tarantulas sit some of Earth’s largest and fuzziest species of spider. That they can be found on six of the planet’s seven continents has proven puzzling for scientists, as these lumbering giants aren’t known for having nomadic lifestyles. In fact, they’re one of the most sedentary groups of spiders with only the males having to go out on the prowl for a mate while females kick back in their burrows. So, how did they take over the world?
New research published in the journal PeerJ believes to have found the answer, which centers around how long ago these eight-legged beasts first emerged. Carried out by an international team of researchers, the study looked at the transcriptomes (the mRNA expressed by an organism) from a wide range of tarantula species that hailed from different periods in Earth’s history. From this, they were able to create a genetic tree of tarantula species that could be cross-referenced with specimens from the fossil record.
Tarantulas are among the most notorious spiders, due in part to their size, vibrant colors and prevalence throughout the world. But one thing most people don t know is that tarantulas are homebodies. Females and their young rarely leave their burrows and only mature males will wander to seek out a mate. How then did such a sedentary spider come to inhabit six out of seven continents?
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