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The discovery of a 305 million-year-old fossil could lead to a greater understanding of how modern spiders evolved, scientists say.
The new (and long-dead) species has been named Idmonarachne brasieri , after figures from Greek mythology, and was found fossilised in rock in Montceau-les-Mines in France.
A team of researchers from institutions in Europe and the US travelled to France to scan the fossil, and found that the ancient creature "occupies a key position in the evolution of spiders," according to Russell Garwood from the University of Manchester.
While it's not a "true spider," according to Garwood, its anatomy has given researchers an insight into the stages of evolution its ancestors went through to become the spiders we know today.
As a Proceedings of the Royal Society B modern spiders .
Instead, it's believed the Idmonarachne laid down its silk in sheets, lacking any of the control over its web that spiders have today.
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In effect, this recent discovery adds another link to the chain of spider evolution, occupying the space between the rudimentary silk production of early insects and the fine web-spinning skills of spiders today.
The Idmonarachne lived over 300 million years before modern humans evolved, so it's truly a rare discovery. The fossil currently sits in the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.
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