In the current era of the internet, social media and online databases together with the development of digital photography, more and more new species and new regional records are discovered by the general public. Plant and animal enthusiasts and photographers are increasingly posting images on platforms such as Flickr, Instagram, iNaturalist, Facebook and Twitter.

Image: Fossil of Eurypterus remipes, a sea scorpion that lived 420 million years ago. © Millard H. Sharp 2017

How far back can you trace your family tree? A couple of generations to maybe a couple of hundred years? How about 460 million years? Because that is when the granddaddy of arachnids swam in the earth’s oceans, making the arachnid family tree truly ancient. And with more than 100 000 identified species living today, their family tree is not only ancient, but gigantic.

Certainly the most recognizable of all arachnids, spiders are ubiquitous little predators on every continent except Antarctica. Their lineage stretches back 380 million years, with some of the oldest known fossils such as Attercopus fimbriunguis dating from the Devonian period and still having segmented abdomens.