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Originally posted by Chonx
I don't think it's possible unless this particular spider has a different internal structure to all other spiders. All spiders have an exoskeleton as opposed to an endoskeleton like mammals so there would need to be some kind of rigid structure which is not found in other spiders to prevent all their internal organs from crushing each other. There is also an issue with the way spiders metabolise oxygen, they don't use haemoglobin but utilize a different chemical. basically this means that the larger the spider, the larger the tracheas would need to be and a spider of the size talked about here would be all trachea due to the relatively low levels of oxygen in the atmosphere.
of course evolution may have been able to come up with a solution so I'm not saying it's impossible, just impossible to our current understanding of all known spiders.
Whether the Congo spider is real, or a myth remains to be seen. And hopefully, whomever the researcher is hunting for it will see the spider before it sees him.
Originally posted by Arkady
Most biologists will tell you that there's not enough oxygen in the atmosphere for an invertebrate to grow that large these days.
Personally I think nature can probably find a way.