World’s oldest known spider dies in Australia at the age of 43

Australian scientists have discovered what they believe is the world’s oldest spider, a creature that had most likely outlived the previous record holder by about 15 years. In a study published in the journal Pacific Conservation Biology and cited by Phys.org, a team of researchers led by Curtin University doctoral student Leanda Mason analyzed a female Giaus Villosus trapdoor spider that had recently died during a separate population study. The spider, which was given the name “Number 16,” is believed to have died at the age of 43, making it 15 years older than a 28-year-old tarantula from Mexico that was once considered the world’s oldest spider.

According to the Telegraph, the spider population study is the “life’s work” of Australian biologist Barbara York Main, who had first encountered Number 16 in 1974, not long after it was born. The Curtin University team continued where Main had left off, and was able to glean more information on the creature that might be world’s oldest spider, including details on its life history, its age, and its cause of death.
“To our knowledge this is the oldest spider ever recorded and her significant life has allowed us to further investigate the trapdoor spider’s behavior and popular dynamics,” said Mason, in a statement.