Spider crabs that allegedly lived 100 million years ago were discovered via the abandoned Koskonilo quarry, a northern Spain fossil reef. According to a Feb. 4 report from Live Science by way of Yahoo!, these crabs are claimed to be the oldest any scientist has ever come across.
Previously, the oldest of this species came out of neighboring France, and was "some millions of years younger" than this recent find, reports Adiël Klompmaker, who works at the Florida Museum of Natural History, part of the University of Florida.
The ace researcher was also was on a team that discovered a new hermit crab at the same disappearing quarry. That species was named after the late Michael Jackson because the thrilling find occurred around the time of the King of Pop's death.
Meanwhile, Klompmaker calls this fresh Spain discovery of the oldest crabs "quite impressive." The scientist says that it "pushes back the origin of spider crabs as known from fossils."
What was found is an ancient creature that is pear-shaped. This spider crab is tiny, meauring a bit more than half an inch long. The fossil shows distinctive diverging spines that emerge out of its forward extension of the carapace in front of the eyes, known as the rostrum.
For more information about the world's oldest crabs found in Spain, check out the complete report at Live Science's web site.
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