Spiders Have a Little-Known Ability That Seriously Freaks People Out

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00:00Spiders are known for their uncanny abilities to climb walls and sling web, but now according

00:09to a new study by researchers from Birmingham University in the UK, some are also pretty

00:13good scuba divers.

00:15This is the Tricalia extensa, a newly discovered spider species from Costa Rica.

00:20Researchers discovered the creature in a stream, a place that would normally spell death for

00:24an arachnid, with lead researcher biologist Lindsay Swierk explaining, for a lot of species,

00:29getting wet and cold is almost as risky to survival as dealing with their predators to

00:34begin with.

00:35But Tricalia extensa didn't seem to mind.

00:37In fact, they observed it chilling out under the surface of the stream for some 32 minutes.

00:42The researchers say the spider is likely doing it to hide from danger, but what's really

00:45cool is that the water-repelling hairs covering the spider's body actually create a film

00:50of air around it, protecting it from the water's chill and perhaps providing it with air to

00:54breathe as well.

00:59But it's just a very difficult scene.

01:04I don't know.

01:05But I'm not, you know, I am just a person that's going to foam up like this and I have

01:07a warm experience to be able to�.

01:08In our utilisation, I'm walking out of the lake, so it's very warm.

01:10The source of the stream has been battered and I'm walking out of the lake.

01:12The earth has been back in the lake, so it's very strong and important.

01:13The water-repelling the air around the lake and the whole island has been to the lake.

01:14And I have to ride it in the lake level.

01:16Yeah, it's just a bit of a direct stream map and on the lake-down of the lake, so it's a

01:18beautiful endangerment to the lake.