How Spiders Evolved: A Timeline of Arachnid Evolution
Sunday, 7 December 2025
Did you know that there are over 50,000 spiders on planet
Earth today? Just imagine if there were
that many different species of human on the planet. Good grief!
As well as being one of the most successful types of animal of all time,
there are many questions the average person in the street couldn’t answer about
arachnids. For example, were spiders
around at the time of the dinosaurs? When did the ability to produce silk
happen and was it used in the same way as spiders use it today? Where on the planet did spiders first emerge? And are there any species of spiders that have
weathered the millennia and are still with us today after millions of years?
All these questions and many more are answered in this
fantastic video from Animated Earth (otherwise known as Peter Schumaker and Tristan
Reed). It really is one of the best
natural history animations that I have seen over the last few years. As such it answered a few questions about
spiders for me that I didn’t even realise that I wanted to ask – such as how
likely are spiders to survive an extinction event?
Watch the video below:
Give a Gift
If you enjoyed this article, please consider making a gift to help Ark In Space to continue to bring you fascinating features, photographs and videos.
Thank you!