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Goliath birdeater

Goliath birdeater
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Theraphosidae
Genus: Theraphosa
Species:
T. blondi
Binomial name
Theraphosa blondi
(Latreille, 1804)
Synonyms
  • T. blondii
  • T. leblondii

The Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi) belongs to the tarantula family Theraphosidae. Found in northern South America, it is the largest spider in the world by mass (175 g (6.2 oz)) and body length (up to 13 cm (5.1 in)), and second to the giant huntsman spider by leg span.[1] It is also called the Goliath tarantula or Goliath bird-eating spider;[2] the practice of calling theraphosids "bird-eating" derives from an early 18th-century copper engraving by Maria Sibylla Merian that shows one eating a hummingbird. Despite the spider's name, it rarely preys on birds.[3][2]

  1. ^ World's biggest spider face-off - see which bug wins here Archived October 23, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b "Tarántula Goliat: La araña más grande del mundo". Infoterio Noticias | Ciencia y Tecnología (in Spanish). 2024-08-09.
  3. ^ Herzig, Volker; King, Glenn F. (2013). "The Neurotoxic Mode of Action of Venoms from the Spider Family Theraphosidae". In Nentwig, Wolfgang (ed.). Spider Ecophysiology. Springer. p. 203. ISBN 978-3-642-33989-9.

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