Megamonodontium

Megamonodontium Temporal range: 16–11 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Miocene
Holotype specimen (AM F.145559)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Mygalomorphae
Family:	Barychelidae
Genus:	†Megamonodontium McCurry et al., 2023
Species:	†M. mccluskyi
Binomial name
†Megamonodontium mccluskyi McCurry et al., 2023

Megamonodontium mccluskyi (Mygalomorphae: Barychelidae) is an extinct species of spider from the Miocene (16–11 million years ago).^[1][2][3] Its fossil was discovered in June 2020 in New South Wales, Australia, at McGraths Flat fossil site, by Dr Simon McClusky.^[4][5] It is the first fossil of the Barychelidae family ever found.^[6]

References

1. McCurry, Matthew R; Frese, Michael; Raven, Robert (2023-09-15). "A large brush-footed trapdoor spider (Mygalomorphae: Barychelidae) from the Miocene of Australia". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 200 (4): 1026–1033. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad100. ISSN 0024-4082.
2. Koop, Fermin (October 3, 2023). "Scientists discover well-preserved giant spider fossil that's absolutely massive". ZME Science.
3. "Exquisite spider fossils from Australia offer clues to their evolution". New Scientist.
4. Museum, Australian. "Large fossil spider found in Australia". phys.org.
5. "Astonishing 15-Million-Year-Old Spider Fossil Is The Second Largest Ever Found". IFLScience. September 22, 2023.
6. "Exceptionally well-preserved 'giant' spider fossil found in Australia". The Independent. September 25, 2023.