by Tia Ghose
Scientists have discovered a new species of daddy longlegs (shown in b and d), Cryptomaster behemoth, lurking in the leaf litter of southwest Oregon forests. The species joins its close cousin, C. leviathan (shown in a and c), in
Scientists have unearthed a monstrous new arachnid lurking in the woods of southwest Oregon — and it's a beast.
The new
daddy longlegs species, dubbed
Cryptomaster behemoth, towers over other creatures of its kind. And like its cousin, the equally elusive
Cryptomaster leviathan,
the new species is incredibly difficult to find, because it hides out
beneath the logs and leafy debris that blanket the forest floor.
The
Cryptomaster leviathan was
discovered in 1969 at one location in the coastal town of Gold Beach,
Oregon. The mysterious creature belonged to one of the most diverse
suborders, called Laniatores, which contains at least 4,100 species.
(Daddy longlegs belong to the arachnid order commonly known as
harvestmen, so-called because they often emerge during the fall months
during the harvest.) [
In Images: 4-Eyed Daddy Longlegs Helps Explain Arachnid Evolution]
Though the 0.15-inch-wide (4 millimeters) body of the creature is
relatively small compared to that of tarantulas or other arachnids, the
daddy longlegs towers over other creatures in its Laniatores suborder.
As a result, its discoverers gave it the species name leviathan, after
the serpentlike sea creature that prowls the deep in the Bible. The
genus name Cryptomaster is a nod to the creature's elusive and reclusive nature.
For 40 years, little else was known about
C. leviathan. But
in recent years, researchers have found more of these elusive creatures
at multiple locations, including some as far off as the Cascade
Mountains in southwest Oregon.
That led James Starrett, an
entomologist at the University of California, Riverside, and his
colleagues to suspect there may be other
undiscovered species in the
Cryptomaster genus. The researchers set out on an expedition to the region, on a hunt for new
Cryptomaster species.
New monster lurking
This hunt led them to the discovery of a completely new
daddy longlegs species, also relatively huge, called
Cryptomaster behemoth. (The
behemoth, like the leviathan, is a biblical beast.) Both have the
unusually short legs characteristic of arachnids of the Laniatores
order.
One of the main differences between the two species is that C. leviathan sports two teensy, fully erect spines pointing upward on its penis. The purpose of those spines isn't clear.
Interestingly, both the C. leviathan and C. behemoth speciescome in two forms: a larger and a smaller one.
But exactly why remains a mystery.
"The basis for these two forms is unknown — the different forms can be
found in both sexes, in both species and from the same localities.
Additionally, the two forms are not genetically divergent," the
researchers wrote in the paper, which was published online Jan. 20 in
the
journal Zookeys.
The team also extracted DNA from the legs of multiple animals from each species. Interestingly, the C. leviathan has relatively little genetic diversity, though the creature shows up in a wide range of habitats. By contrast, C. behemoth seems to have a more restricted range, yet has much more genetic diversity than does C. leviathan. The
genetic analysis also revealed that the big and small versions of each
species don't differ genetically, so some other factor must explain the
size difference.
The new species reveal how much genetic diversity can be found within a relatively tiny area, the scientists wrote.
"This research highlights the importance of short-range endemic
arachnids for understanding biodiversity, and further reveals
mountainous southern Oregon as a hot spot for endemic animal species,"
the researchers wrote.
