A NEW species of spider found in Grass Valley near Northam last July has made National Geographic’s Top 10 weirdest life-forms of 2011.
The freakish albino trapdoor spider was named alongside the cyclops shark, a glam rock chameleon and seven other species that were all discovered in the past year.
Grass Valley resident John Cornish found the only Australian creature on the list in his backyard.
Helping to identify the spider was Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management’s spider expert Mick Davis and Mark Harvey, the WA Museum's curator of arachnids and myriapods.
The spider is about the size of a 50 cent piece. It is not a true albino, since it still has some pigment – its body is brown, like those of other trapdoor spiders.
“Spiders are a diverse group of animals that fascinate and terrify many people,” Mr Harvey said.
“The world would be a much poorer place without them.”
10 weirdest forms of life 2011
1. Cyclops shark
2. Furcifer timoni chameleon
3. ‘Albino’ spider
4. Beelzebub bat
5. Ophiocordycepscamponoti-balzani fungus
6. ‘Pancake’ sea slug
7. ‘Flying’ tree frog
8. ‘Devil’ worm
9. ‘Big-lipped’ seaworm
10. ‘Pink meanie’ jellyfish