Tarantula spiders have established themselves on the remnants of the supercontinent Gondwana and have since dispersed to various regions around the Earth. Tarantula spiders inhabit all continents except Antarctica.
Female tarantulas rarely leave their burrows, while spiderlings tend to stay close to where they were born. Mature males, on the other hand, only move around when searching for mates.
So what is the reason for the widespread presence of tarantula spiders across the Earth?
To answer this question, researchers sought the origins of tarantula spiders that lived over 100 million years ago. They constructed a phylogenetic tree of this species based on clues from existing databases.
Tarantula spiders first appeared about 120 million years ago in what is now the Americas. (Photo: TNC).
Subsequently, scientists mapped the timeline of spider fossils to estimate when and where these spiders emerged and dispersed.
Researchers discovered that tarantulas first appeared during the Cretaceous period in what is now the Americas. However, at that time, the Americas were part of the massive supercontinent Gondwana.
Ancestors of ancient tarantula spiders likely spread across contiguous landmasses, dispersing from the Americas to Africa, Australia, and India.
After Gondwana broke apart, India separated from Madagascar and collided with Asia, carrying along the tarantula spiders.
To date, only two tarantula fossils have been found, both preserved in amber.
One is from Mexico and dates back 16 million years, while the other is from Myanmar and is approximately 100 million years old.
Due to the rarity of tarantula fossils, researchers are gathering additional data from mygalomorphs—a group of spiders that includes tarantulas and other large ground-dwelling spider species.
