It was considered the biggest spider ever to scuttle across the Earth. Or so scientists in Argentina thought when they uncovered the fossil of what they inevitably dubbed Megarachne — a name worthy of a classic B-movie monster.
While Megarachne would never have been big enough to go up against Godzilla, it was nothing you’d want to find under your bed either. The 300-million-year-old fossil revealed a creature with a leg span of nearly 20 inches and a body that was even longer — 21 inches.
By the early 2000s, it was determined that Megarachne was not actually a giant prehistoric spider after all, but a long-extinct sea scorpion. Current fossil evidence indicates that prehistoric spiders weren’t all that big; however, there are still species of giant spiders alive today — bigger than dinner plates, bigger than some household pets, and indeed big enough to wrap their long, hairy legs around your face if they wanted.
Find out just how big the biggest spiders in the world can get, where they live, and what they eat.
