Scientists discover proof of mother's love in 99-million-year-old fossil of Spider

A team of scientists recently revealed a rare finding on the fossil of a Spider that specifies the instincts and impulses of mother spiders, according to news reports. The historical data will help the scientists grasp a better knowledge of how the arachnidian class acquired parental responses. Scientists have uncovered the earliest sign of motherly love in the fossil of an old, extinct female spider.  

The team of scientists led by Paul Selden, a professor of geology at the University of Kansas, extracted a 99-million-year-old fossil from Northern Myanmar in Southeast Asia whereby it is seen that a mother spider was found safeguarding her already-hatched young during that period. According to the researchers, the discovery was published on Wednesday in the journal of Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. The spider was discovered amid pieces of solidified tree wax that had trapped the arachnid and its offspring. 

Findings of the research on the 99-million-year-old fossil

As per Paul Selden who is also the study's co-author, the fossil revealed tangible proof in the form of mother's love in arachnids, which can now be found in other arthropods as well, but is hardly ever documented. He further explained that the female spider clutching onto her egg sac with small spiderlings gives authentic proof of how the female spiders protect their eggs. Thus, as a consequence, this fossilisation method has captured a normal female spider’s behaviour at the moment to safeguard the baby spiders. 

The authors of the research also stated that parental involvement related to any interest improves the health and fitness of their children. Its involvement as well as development mark a pivotal point in animal adaptation to their surroundings, with far-reaching consequences for the evolution of socialisation. 

As per Live Science, the researchers assume that the spiders turned into a fossil when they were entangled in tree resin, which later solidified. The spider hatchlings most likely perished shortly after emerging from the eggs, and some of the remaining arthropod segments might be their mother's legs.  

The spider in the fossil is identified as the relative of the extinct lagonomegopidae family. This can be recognised by looking at the huge pair of eyes on the front edges of the forehead. According to Live Science, spiders have a long and rich history and initially arose within the Carboniferous era from 359 million to 299 million years ago. 

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