Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, uses cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. For more information on how we use cookies on our websites, visit our Cookie Policy.
Science Visualized Paleontology

This ancient creature looks like a spider with a tail

Silk spinners and spidery male sex organs mix with nonspider traits

Chimerarachne yingi

SEE THE TAIL  Trapped in amber for 100 million years, a tiny extinct beast resembles a spider, except for its long, skinny tail.

B. Wang

By Susan Milius

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Paleontology

  1. Cambroraster falcatus
    Paleontology

    This newfound predator may have terrorized the Cambrian seafloor

    By Carolyn Gramling
  2. Microdocodon gracilis fossil
    Paleontology

    A flexible bone that helps mammals chew dates back to the Jurassic Period

    By Carolyn Gramling
  3. Elektorornis chenguangi
    Paleontology

    An ancient bird found encased in amber had a bizarrely long toe

    By Carolyn Gramling
  4. a photo of a crocodile with its mouth open
    Animals

    Some ancient crocodiles may have chomped on plants instead of meat

    By Carolyn Wilke
  5. Eocoracias brachyptera bird fossil
    Paleontology

    Signs of the color blue have been found in a fossil for the first time

    By Carolyn Gramling
  6. artist's rendering of Arctic hyenas
    Paleontology

    Hyenas roamed the Arctic during the last ice age

    By Nicoletta Lanese
  7. Diplodocus in Smithsonian fossil hall
    Science & Society

    The Smithsonian’s ‘Deep Time’ exhibit gives dinosaurs new life

    By Carolyn Gramling
  8. saber-toothed cat skulls
    Paleontology

    Fossils reveal saber-toothed cats may have pierced rivals’ skulls

    By John Pickrell

From the Nature Index

Paid Content