Ancient spider caring for offsrping is trapped in amber

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Dripping tree resin trapped adult female spiders and baby spiderlings about 99 million years ago, forever showcasing the maternal care exhibited by these arthropods, according to new research. One “shows a female lagonomegopid spider clutching an egg sac containing eggs about to hatch,” said study author Paul Selden, the Gulf-Hedberg Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Kansas, in an email. “This is exactly how a living female spider which is nestled in a crevice in tree bark would look.” This illustration shows a female lagonomegopid spider guarding her egg sac in a Cretaceous forest. “Whereas we expected that spiders had maternal instincts from their very beginning, it is, nevertheless, very nice to have actual physical evidence from the fossil record about 100 million years ago,” Selden said.