ACT teacher accidentally discovers a spider in Queensland; Hopes the species would be named after her
A team that went on an expedition to the Queensland's Cape York peninsula accidentally discovered thirteen new species of spiders. However, one of the group members and a science teacher, Leslie Carr, hopes that one of the spider species will be named after her since she accidentally tripped over it, making a sole discovery.
The group, which included a few of spider specialists, left for the Cape York peninsula as a part of the teaching correspondence program. The travelers had no intention of making a discovery of any wild species of spiders. However, they ended up discovering 13 species of spiders on the traditional land belonging to the Olkola people.
Carr, from the Maribyrnong Primary School in Kaleen, claimed that the rest of the group discovered 12 species of spiders. However, the thirteenth one was discovered by her, despite knowing nothing much about the spiders. Now, Carr is hopeful that the last species of spider will be named after her.
"There is a long technical process involved in naming a species, but I am keeping my fingers crossed they decide to name it after me," said Carr, in a statement.
"They can be dangerous, but the specialist taught us they had no reason to bite unless they felt threatened, so I had it on my hand and wasn't too worried.”
Six teachers, including Carr, and more than 12 scientists went on the expedition, which resulted as a collaboration between Earthwatch Australia, BHP Billiton and the Australian government. During the expedition, Carr discovered the brush-footed trapdoor spider.
Brush-footed trapdoor spider family includes over 300 species and 44 different genera of spiders. A majority of members of the species build trapdoor burrows, while some plug their nests to avoid flooding. A few members of the family are capable of trapping the air bubbles in their body hair to avoid drowning.
According to a recent report released by the Australian government, there are nearly 11 million living species present worldwide. It further states that more than 18,000 species are discovered each year around the world.
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