Story at a glance
- JoCho Sippawat, a wildlife YouTuber with 2.5 million subscribers, discovered a new species of tarantula.
- The species, taksinus bambus, is named in honor of the Thai king Taksin the Great, while bambus derives from the spider’s inhabiting of bamboo stalks.
- It is the first known species of tarantula to live in bamboo.
A YouTuber from Thailand has discovered a new species of tarantula.
JoCho Sippawat, a wildlife YouTuber with 2.5 million subscribers, discovered the new species of tarantula — given the scientific name Taksinus bambus — while on a nature outing near his home in Mae Tho, Thailand.
Sippawat photographed the arachnid and contacted arachnologists Narin Chomphuphuang of Khon Kaen University and Chaowalit Songsangchote of Kasetsart University, who came to study the tarantula in the field.
“These animals are truly remarkable; they are the first known tarantulas ever with a bamboo-based ecology,” Chomphuphuang said in a press release.
The name Taksinus is in honor of the Thai king Taksin the Great, while bambus derives from the spider’s inhabiting of bamboo stalks.
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“This species is unique because it is associated with bamboo, and we have never observed this tarantula species in any other plant,” said Chomphuphuang. “Bamboo is important to this tarantula, not only in terms of lifestyle but also because it can only be found in high hill forests in the northern part of Thailand, at an elevation of about 1,000 m. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are now Thailand’s rarest tarantulas.”
The researchers said the discovery is a crucial reminder of the need to conserve land in the name of biodiversity.
“Few people realize how much of Thailand’s wildlife remains undocumented,” said Chomphuphuang. “Thai forests now cover only 31.64% of the country’s total land area. We are primarily on a mission to research and save the biodiversity and wildlife within these forests from extinction, especially species-specific microhabitats.”
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