海角大神

The spotting of a rare Goliath birdeater spider in the Amazon this week may have some wondering how far the boundaries of science can give as this arthropod skitters across into a realm more suited to comic books than science.

It makes some wonder if, perhaps not a Spiderman, but a spider the size of a man, could someday exist.

First described in 1804, the Goliath spider has a leg span of almost a foot and weighs up to a third of a pound, similar to , according to a blog post written by Harvard entomologist and photographer Piotr Naskrecki, who spotted the spider underfoot during a nighttime walk through a rainforest in Guyana.

It is also likely the only spider in the world that makes noise as it walks, due to the 鈥渉ardened tips and claws that produce a very distinct, clicking sound, not unlike that of a horse鈥檚 hooves hitting the ground,鈥� writes Dr. Naskrecki.

The presence of a spider whose presence is announced by a clawing, thrumming skitter is the stuff of horror films.

This is the reverse of the聽The Incredible Shrinking Man聽(1957) where the hero is exposed to radioactive toxic waste and shrinks so small he ends up in a pitched battle with a 鈥済iant" spider.

However, according to the University of Chicago website called Fathom, we probably don鈥檛 have to be worried about anything too massive clacking its way out of the Amazon into, say, your shower, because science forbids it.聽

Basically,聽if you double the size of an animal, you've got just four times the surface area trying to do the biological work 鈥� respiration, thermal regulation, not toppling over, etc. 鈥� needed to serve eight times the volume.

In other words, a spider the size of a house would probably collapse under its own weight. And because arthropods breathe through the surface of their exoskeletons, such an animal would have to figure out how to get oxygen to its cells far more efficiently than a normal spider can. Also, because animals shed heat through their surface, a house-sized spider would also likely overheat.

Of course, none of this stops filmmakers from tormenting their protagonists with monster spiders. One such filmmaker,聽Dustin Warburton, creator of the ,聽was ecstatic at the existence of a puppy-sized spider.

鈥淚 am so stoked,鈥� Warburton said in a phone interview. 鈥淎s soon as I get my next break I want to look into this because part of my film was a new species being discovered. Who knows what鈥檚 out there!鈥�

In his zeal for gargantuan nightmarish eight-legged freak fodder Warburton speculated, 鈥淢aybe these spiders are like goldfish that grow into the environment that they鈥檙e in. Bigger bowl. Bigger fish.鈥澛�

Nobody knows what the exact upper limit for arthropods is, but the Goliath is probably near the upper range. A "bigger bowl" in this instance would probably mean a planet with lower gravity than Earth but with more oxygen in its atmosphere.

鈥淎ll I can say is I鈥檓 excited,鈥� said Warburton. 鈥淚magine the things it could do!鈥�