Researchers say they used anatomical and DNA comparisons to study different populations of the Sydney funnel-web spider – one of the world’s deadliest spiders – and found there were three species, only two of which were previously known to science.

“The Newcastle funnel-web, Atrax christenseni— dubbed Big Boy—is a totally new species. The ‘true’ Sydney Funnel-web, Atrax robustus centres on the North Shore of Sydney and the Central Coast, and the Southern Sydney Funnel-web, Atrax montanus, is a resurrected species name from 1914,” Loria explained.

Recently a new species of spider was discovered in Australia. This new funnel webbed species is nicknamed 'Big Boy' because of its size, and was discovered by Kane Christensen - a spider enthusiast and former head of spiders at the Australian Reptile Park.

Researchers reclassify the infamous Sydney funnel-web spider into three distinct species: Atrax robustus, Atrax montanus, and Atrax christenseni. Led

Scientists in Australia have discovered a spider that they've unironically nicknamed "Big Boy." This arachnid is a larger, more venomous version of the Sydney funnel web, known to be one of the world's deadliest spiders.

Australia's reputation for venomous spiders comes partly from the deadly Sydney funnel-web. It turns out there is not just one species, there are three.

Researchers have discovered that one of Australia’s largest and deadliest spiders is actually three different species, and one of them […] The post Researchers Have Identified This Australian Spider As Being Bigger And Deadlier Than The Rest appeared first on Chip Chick.