Scientists have reportedly discovered five new species of armored spiders in Southeast China, according to a news release issued by Pensoft Publishers.
Armored spiders are a "medium to small" species, who get their name from the pattern of the plates covering their abdomen, which resembles body armor.
The new species were discovered and described at length after scientists found them hiding in caves in Southeast China, according to the release.
Spiders from the Tetrablemmidae family are usually found in litter and soil, but some are found in caves. Some cave spiders show adaptations of save spiders, such as the loss of eyes.
The genus Tetrablemma, is distinguished for having "only 4 eyes," according to the release.
The five new species of spiders were collected from the South China Karst, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which spans the provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan.
Karst is a landscape created from the dissolution of soluble rocks, like limestone, gypsum, and dolomite.
It is known for their caves, underground drainage systems, and sinkholes, according to The University of Texas
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have observed over 2,000 caves in the South China Karst, according to the release. Since they started examining those caves, the total known spider species of China increased from 2,300 species to 4,300 in the past decade.
Research was published in the open access journal ZooKeys recently.
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