A researcher has found a new species of tarantula from an arachnid expedition in 2009. And it's not just any ordinary species -- this species is reportedly the size of a human face.
"It was slightly smaller than the size of the plate we have dinner on," said Ranil Nanayakkara, co-author of the study, to the Daily News on Wednesday.
Smithsonian magazine's blog reports that the scientists found the tarantula when villagers in a northern Sri Lankan village gave them a male corpse of one they had killed.
"Upon close inspection it was noticed that it did not conform to the descriptions of any of the species of Poecilotheria so far described from the island," reads the study, featured in the December issue of the British Tarantula Society's journal.
After that, the scientists started looking for more and found that they usually live under rocks, in cracks of brick walls, in decaying trees. They also found that this species looks for human dwellings during the monsoons. The scientists collected over 50 specimens of the new species from Mankulum, Sri Lanka, and preserved them with 70 percent alcohol.
The newly found species is said to have a leg span of eight inches and belongs to the Poecilotheria genus, whose trademark physical characteristic are black and white stripes on their abdomen. Nanayakkara named the spider "Poecilotheria rajaei" to honor Sub Inspector of Police, SI Michael Rajakumar Puraja, who helped his team navigate through war-ridden Sri Lanka.
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