Although the findings of spider fossils are relatively rare, scientists know that these creatures have existed since ancient times. Recent fossil records tell us that for millions of years, the eyes of spiders reflected light as they hunted their prehistoric prey in the dark.

Today, their eyes shining in the darkness are a well-known fact. You've probably seen some videos on social media as well. The glittering spider looks as if it is covered with many small shiny colored diamonds. On closer inspection, it resembles millions of children's eyes looking into the camera lens. One haunting and, as if alien, female look would be enough to make people scatter in front of her.

To witness something like this seems as mysterious and terrifying as the fact that this phenomenon has been going on here for millions of years. Indeed, glowing-eyed spider fossils from 110 million years ago have recently been discovered at a geological site in South Korea. This is an extinct genus Lagonomegopidae, which had huge glittering eyes so that it could hunt its prey better at night.

According to Newsweek, spider fossils have been discovered on a building site and are the first ever to be found in the shale. Most of these creatures are found in amber, which can better preserve their soft bodies. But until now, scientists did not know that spider eyes were luminous.

When the eyes shine

Paleontologist prof. Paul Selden and colleagues from Kansas University studied fossils dating back to 110 to 113 for millions of years. When they were placed under the light, their half-moon-shaped eyes began to shine.

"Because these spiders were preserved in strange spots on dark rock, at first glance their large eyes were clearly visible, clearly marked with crescent-shaped outlines," Selden said. "I realized that it must be tapetum - a reflective structure on the inside of the eye, where light enters and is returned to the retinal cells. This is in contrast to the ordinary eye, where light passes through and is not reflective. ”

Selden explained that these extinct creatures represented a specific segment that is now replaced by the current spiders from the spider family.

"This is an extinct genus of spiders, apparently relatively widespread in the Cretaceous. These spiders belonged to a specific group, which no longer developed and is now made up of spiders of the hop family. But these spiders behaved differently. The structure of their eyes is also different from today's jumpers. "

Selden speculated that these precious fossils could have been created by the water that washed the prehistoric spiders and prevented the decomposition of their bodies.

"These rocks are also full of small crustaceans and fish, so maybe some catastrophic event has occurred. The spiders could have been caught in some slimy layer of algae that trapped them and drowned - but that's just a guess. "

Giant spiders in Mongolia

Thanks to the fossil record, scientists will be able to better understand how the spiders of the genus Lagonomegopidae are among their relatives.

This is not the first time Paul Selden has made a significant discovery of these types of fossil forms. 2011 found Fossil of Inner Mongolia the largest prehistoric spider, even 165 million years old and measuring six inches. Unlike spiders with glowing eyes there are these giant spiders, bigger than the human hand, to this day.

Currently, these "golden weavers" live in northern China. Huge females can create up to five feet long mesh of yellow yarn that shines like gold in the sun. Selden's discovery helped to find that weaver spiders are among the oldest spider natives on the planet. Maybe they do not have spooky glowing eyes, but they can also weave their nets just at the height of their human face.