The Evolution of Spiders

Spiders tend to be lumped in with other bugs and although most people know they are a different group of animals sometimes it is understated quite how distantly related and different they are as animals and strangely almost every difference that spiders have with the other arthropods seems to have just made them creepier.

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Sources:

[juliusblaze]

"Humans are closer to sharks than spiders are to insects" I love little evolution weirdness like that

[thegreatestpepe]

I had no idea why spiders moved so creepily. I guess that explains it. The mechanics behind their movement is so different from everything else, that it gives us that uncanny valley feeling. Also explains why they curl up into a ball when they die, since they can't pump their hydraulics anymore. Wild.

[ambergris]

So many great points. It's like, "spiders can't be that distantly related to insects"...
And then "they move with hydraulics instead of muscles"

That's a crazy crazy difference...

[rainerbe]

0:20 Small correction: while it used to be believed that arachnids have a fused head and thorax like some other arthropods, the consensus is now that their ancestors never had a separate head and thorax to begin with. Because of this, the words cephalothorax and abdomen have recently been replaced by prosoma and opisthosoma as the preferred words for arachnid body segments.

[Twisted]

Crazy that scorpions are older than trees.

[Zooker]

I think we only find spider locomotion creepy because we're already hard-wired to be wary of spiders, so we pick up on their movement pattern as distinctly spidery.

[robertborland]

A unique fact about spiders is -- due to ballooning juveniles -- they are the among the most common animals found in the atmosphere as aeroplankton.

[garythefishable]

The weird hydrolic system is also the reason why jumping spiders didn't have to waste xp modifying their legs like the crickets had to in order to jump long distances, instead they just flood their legs at a rapid rate.

[KodiaxeMusic]

I like to talk to random spiders I see. Not the best conversation, but it’s fun to get to know them

[AngryMothNoises]

I always want videos on the evolution of spiders. FOR YEARS and finally someone makes a video about it. Thank you

[DavidCesarVera]

Fantastic video. I’ve been getting over my arachnophobia over the past few years, and it’s videos like these that trigger intrigue where at one time I only recoiled. Thank you

[B_COOPER]

I know sharks don’t sneeze, but mama shark at 0:53 definitely sneezes when he tells us how we are closer to sharks than spiders to insects

[auxin]

I think the way spiders move is so elegant. They have such tender footsteps, like they are cautious of each placements even though they have so many.

They remind me of ballet dancers - walking on their toes with a strength that belied their soft exterior.

Sometimes i imagine a world where people latched on to spiders instead of butterflies for everything. Kids getting facepaint of colorful spiders, or adults have spider print blouses.
Makes you think how subjective fear and beauty is!

[searchiemusic]

i'm an audio engineer and, honestly, I was going through your old videos and having to eq and mono some of them lol, but your audio is SO much better now, i've been binge watching your whole catalog and i love the depth, you're not afraid to use the big scary words and I love that, I've been learning so much watching these from actually being able to look up information instead of just getting 'this was related to this and this and that and this'

[Lars]

Apparently our primate ancestors (and us) were/are allergic to certain types of spider venom, which may have caused us to be extra wary of them, as they could be a potential danger. Edit: I may have put a bit much meaning into this as some in the comments have pointed out, but there's some disagreement on this. Just take my initial comment with a tiny grain of salt and do your own research before believing in random people from the internet. ;)

[midge_gender_solek]

>"...which gives them their spooky appearance"
>shows the cutest creature in the universe

[NicolasBeraldes]

I have a great fear of spiders, I came here today to study my enemy, now it frightens me to know that at some point in history scorpions had wings

[boyinblue.]

I love spiders, my only hang up is touching them. Unless it's a jumping spider I don't touch them, especially if I don't know what they are. But jumping spiders are fine by me, they end up on me all on their own when I'm sitting outside anyway. They are cute and pretty docile.

[ponchojasperproductions]

Im so glad I got bug (generalized term) autism, cause there's never any shortage of new information to learn, and it only makes my love for the little guys even greater

[matthewanipen]

I always try to be nice to spiders. They creep me out but they're just doing their thing. Especially jumping spiders. They're pretty cute.