As if the abundance of dangerous creatures in Australia wasn’t enough, scientists have now discovered not one, not two but 37 new species of spiders in the country.
From red backs, to funnel webs and white tails, spiders of all sizes are already crawling through homes and hiding on window sills. But with this new discovery made, it really isn’t a good time for arachnophobes to be in Australia.
The flurry of new spiders have been hiding away in Queensland’s Cooloola Coast, until recently when a group of citizen scientists searched the national park, the ABC reports.
Thankfully, though the creepy crawlies aren’t the stuff of nightmares, but are instead likened to tiny little jewels.
Speaking to Australia’s national broadcaster, spider expert Robert Whyte while some of the spiders have frightening names such as the Baalzebub after the god of darkness, they are not deadly.
“None of them are even remotely dangerous. They’re tiny little gorgeous things that jump around on the foliage,” he told the ABC.
Those with fears of spiders can breathe a sigh of relief that the list of dangerous spiders hasn’t increased, however that can’t be said for snakes.
A team of biologists from the University of Queensland recently discovered a new species of bandy-bandy snake at the Weipa on the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula. Researchers actually discovered the new species when they were researching sea snakes in the area.
“Bandy-bandy is a burrowing snake, so Freek Vonk from the Naturalis Museum and I were surprised to find it on a concrete block by the sea,” lead biologist Professor Bryan Fry said in a statement.
“We later discovered that the snake had slithered over from a pile of bauxite rubble waiting to be loaded onto a ship. On examination by my student, Chantelle Derez, the bandy-bandy turned out to be a new species, visually and genetically distinct from those found on the Australian East coast and parts of the interior.”