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