The authors reported on the discovery of a spider silk of a newly discovered species Caerostris darwini, which surpasses other known spider silks in its toughness, which makes it currently the toughest known natural material. In a concurrent paper, Kuntner and Agnarsson described Caerostris darwini from Madagascar, a new species noteworthy for its extraordinary ability to spin the largest ever recorded webs used to bridge rivers and lakes spanning up to 25 meters. The two studies received great scientific and popular coverage, even in journal Science. The discoveries establish a coevolutionary history of ecological (largest web architecture) and physical properties (extraordinary biomaterial).
COBISS.SI-ID: 31701037
The study pioneered quantification of web data to distinguish species, and concluded that interspecific variation in webs reflects phylogenetic relationships among Zygiella s.l.
COBISS.SI-ID: 31701293
This study tested alternative explanations of behavioral adaptations for river-bridging webs in Caerostris darwini (Araneae: Araneidae), and found that the web architecture coevolved with modified known behavioral repertoirs.
COBISS.SI-ID: 33202733
The authors reported on the discovery and formal description of Darwin's bark spider (Caerostris darwini), a new species from Madagascar, and on its extraordinary web gigantism.
COBISS.SI-ID: 31700781
This study tested the hypothesis that giant webs of the river-bridging Caerostris darwini is optimized for capturing giant prey, but found that rather than single large items the spiders forage on mass emergencies of aquatic insects.
COBISS.SI-ID: 33202989