New species are discovered all the time. While some are found in the most remote parts of the planet, others were hiding in plain sight all this time.<\/p>\n
Newsweek<\/a> reported that a new species of spider has been unearthed in the sand dunes of the California coast. The new species, Aptostichus ramirezae, is a trapdoor spider that bears a very strong resemblance to the Aptostichus simus.<\/p>\n A new study<\/a>, however, found the similarities are only exoskeleton deep. Genetically, they’re more different from one another than humans are from chimpanzees.<\/p>\n One of the study’s authors and a professor at UC Davis, Jason Bond, described them as “absolutely beautiful.” He marveled at how they went undetected for so long given their proximity<\/a>.<\/p>\n “This one is found just underfoot on a beach in California, highlighting the fact that such discoveries are not limited to remote tropical rainforest; there is so much about our planet’s life that remains to be discovered,” Bond said to Newsweek.<\/p>\n “Beautiful” might not be the first word that comes to mind for most. A. ramirezae, nonetheless, is a fascinating little creature. Trapdoor spiders<\/a> play a key role in the ecosystem as prolific ambush predators of insects, keeping their numbers in check.<\/p>\n They also live exceptionally long lives; some spiders are around long enough to see their twentieth birthdays. One trapdoor spider, known only as No. 16<\/a>, lived to the ripe old age of 43. Females are real homebodies; they spend virtually their entire lives underground feeding, mating, and rearing their young.<\/p>\n The knowledge that these spiders are under threat due to rising sea levels unfortunately tempers this exciting discovery.<\/p>\n As the atmosphere warms because of human activity, sea ice melts and coastlines retreat. California has already seen an 8-inch rise in the last 100 years. Up to two-thirds of the state’s beaches could be lost by 2100<\/a>.<\/p>\n This story underscores the importance of research in aiding local conservation work<\/a>. Identifying a new species can help legislators prioritize certain habitats for protection.<\/p>\n As another of the study’s authors, Emma E. Jochim, explained in a blog post by UC Davis<\/a>: “If we don’t know how many species are in an area or understand the patterns of genetic diversity between populations, we don’t really know what areas would be most important for conservation efforts.”<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices \u2014 and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD’s exclusive Rewards Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New species are discovered all the time. While some are found in the most remote parts of the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":459562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[209887,276,67002,209886,1864,159,209885,99992,67,132,68,837],"class_list":{"0":"post-459561","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-aptostichus-simus","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-california-coast","11":"tag-jason-bond","12":"tag-new-species","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-trapdoor-spider","15":"tag-uc-davis","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}