The spider, named after its discoverer, Simon McClusky, is similar to a trapdoor spider. According to Raven, 300 species of the brush-footed trapdoor spiders are alive today but don't fossilize.

Photo from Yu, Lo, Cheng, Raven and Kuntner (2023) Parilarilao trapdoor spiders live in “tubular nests with trapdoors (that) are built on large coral rocks or cliffs,” the study said.

Photo from Yu, Lo, Cheng, Raven and Kuntner (2023) Parilarilao trapdoor spiders live in “tubular nests with trapdoors (that) are built on large coral rocks or cliffs,” the study said.

Photo from Yu, Lo, Cheng, Raven and Kuntner (2023) Parilarilao trapdoor spiders live in “tubular nests with trapdoors (that) are built on large coral rocks or cliffs,” the study said.

The spider, named after its discoverer, Simon McClusky, is similar to a trapdoor spider. According to Raven, 300 species of the brush-footed trapdoor spiders are alive today but don't fossilize.

Photo from Yu, Lo, Cheng, Raven and Kuntner (2023) Parilarilao trapdoor spiders live in “tubular nests with trapdoors (that) are built on large coral rocks or cliffs,” the study said.

“(The spider) is the first fossil of the family Barychelidae that has been found worldwide,” Dr Raven said. “There are around 300 species of brush-footed trapdoor spiders alive today, but ...

If you thought Australia’s spiders were scary, wait until you see the prehistoric version. Scientists have found a fossilised giant trapdoor spider in New South Wales, only the fourth specimen ...

The fossil is the first evidence of a spider that belongs to the brush-foot trapdoor spider family called Barychelidae and has officially been named Megamonodontium mccluskyi.

Australia is also home to other massive spiders, like a mega spider found in 2021.Much like this new species of trapdoor spider, scientists were intrigued to discover that such a spider existed.

Photo from Yu, Lo, Cheng, Raven and Kuntner (2023) Parilarilao trapdoor spiders live in “tubular nests with trapdoors (that) are built on large coral rocks or cliffs,” the study said.