This big-eyed jumping spider is the 50,000th species of spider discovered and officially described. But the true number of species of eight-legged hunters could be at least twice as large, spider researchers suspect.
Spiders are one of the most successful animal groups of all: they have spread across almost the entire planet and can be found at all altitudes and climatic zones. Even in the water and in the desert there are representatives of these eight-legged hunters. Equally diverse is the range of their prey-catching strategies: some spiders weave elaborate webs, others produce a deadly venom, and still others overwhelm their prey with a giant, long leap. All spiders together eat as much prey every year as all whales in our oceans together.
Biologists are now reporting a new milestone: the 50,000th species of spider has just been discovered and entered into the global directory of the World Spider Catalog (WSC) in Bern. Our picture shows a female of this species of jumping spider, christened Guriurius minuano. The species is found in southern Brazil, Uruguay and parts of Argentina and was discovered by spider researcher Kimberly Marta and her colleagues from Brazil. The new spider species pursues its prey on bushes and trees.
But despite the large number of known spider species, not all representatives of this species-rich arthropod group are known: “We estimate that there are still around 50,000 other spider species to be discovered,” explain spider researchers at the Natural History Museum in Bern, who oversee the World Spider Catalog. It contains the entire scientific literature on spider taxonomy and catalogs all known species. However, whether and when the remaining spider species can be determined will also depend on how species extinction develops in the near future. Because many arthropod species could become extinct before we even discover them.