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³=START= XMT: 06:11 Mon Aug 05 EXP: 06:00 Mon Aug 12 ³
³ ³
³RARE, BLIND TROGLODYTE SPIDER FOUND IN AUSTRALIAN DESERT ³
³ ³
³SYDNEY (AUG. 5) - A blind, troglodyte spider long believed ³
³extinct has been found alive and thriving under the ³
³Nullarbor Plains desert in South Australia, the Australian ³
³Museum announced Monday. ³
³ ³
³A relative of the trap-door spider, it is known as ³
³Troglodiplura lowryi, who was forced underground millions of³
³years ago when Australia's climate dried up, the museum's ³
³head of arachnology Michael Gray said. ³
³ ³
³Furthermore, Troglodiplura is one of only three blind, ³
³underground dwelling spider species in the world, the ³
³experts believe. ³
³ ³
³Gray said he found eight juveniles of the rare spiders in a ³
³cave under the Nullarbor on a desert expedition last month. ³
³ ³
³And because eight spiders were found in only two days, there³
³was likely to be a colony, he said. ³
³ ³
³A preserved Troglodiplura was first found more than 20 years³
³ago, but after repeated unsuccessful searches throughout the³
³Nullarbor, scientists declared the spider extinct. ³
³ ³
³Gray said there is a great deal of life under the Nullarbor ³
³that could not be seen because of cave-ins and collapses ³
³that prevented people from entering the caves. ³
³ ³
³"Insects can get in, however, and that's what these spiders ³
³feed on," he said. ³
³ ³
³"The spiders have adapted to sensing prey from a distance by³
³monitoring local air currents and vibrations of insects. ³
³ ³
³"The spiders were forced into caves millions of years ago ³
³when Australia's climate dried up," Gray said. ³
³ ³
³"A lot of species were forced underground, but only only 12 ³
³have survived to become troglodytes." ³
³ ³
³Animals forced underground had to evolve and adapt to their ³
³surroundings, genetically reorganising their entire make-up,³
³he said. "They lose their sight, develop pigmentation and ³
³their limbs lengthen with cave adaptation." ³
³ ³
³The young spiders will be kept alive for as long as ³
³possible, so they can be used for examination and breeding, ³
³Gray said. ³
³ ³
³=END= ³