A spider fossil dating back to 110 million years ago still had bright eyes: study

Researchers say that two of the Lagonomegopidae spider family fossils, which would have lived between 110 and 113 million years ago, have reflective eyes useful for night hunting.

According to the study, it is the first preservation on the fossil record of the tapetum of a spider, the structure inside the eye allowing it to reflect the light .

"Because these spiders were preserved in pretty speckles on a dark rock, what was immediately obvious was their large eyes brightly marked with crescent-shaped lines," said Paul Selden, professor of geology and director of the group. Institute of Paleontology of the University of Kansas. "Institute of Biodiversity and Museum of Natural History, in a statement.

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The study was conducted in collaboration with a researcher from the Korean Polar Research Institute and a high school teacher from the Daejeon Science for the Gifted High School in South Korea who discovered the fossils.

Typically, spiders and other insects are kept in amber because their bodies are softer, unlike animal fossils made of harder substances such as bones or teeth.

Selden said the researchers were still trying to understand how spiders remained preserved in shale without breaking down.

"It must be a very special situation in which they were washed in a water plan," he said. "Normally, they floated, but here they sank, which kept them away from the decaying bacteria – it may have been a lack of oxygen."