Meet The New Tarantula Named After Johnny Cash
FOLSOM (CBS13) – It's a fitting tribute for the artist known as "the Man in Black."
Scientists have named a new species of tarantula after Johnny Cash. The spiders were found near Folsom Prison, the site of one of Cash's most-famous performances.
The finding was part of a new study published in ZooKeys that identified a whole host of new tarantula species in the southwestern United States.
"With the Earth in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, it is astonishing how little we know about our planet's biodiversity, even for charismatic groups such as tarantulas," said Dr. Chris Hamilton, lead author of the study, in a release.
Aphonopelma johnnycashi, the spider's scientific name, earned its title thanks to the species being generally black in color.
While the spider is a part of the tarantula family, no one should be worried about any possible dangers. Scientists note that tarantulas are just "teddy bears with eight legs" that don't readily bite and aren't particularly dangerous when they do.
The spiders do range in sizes ranging from fitting on a quarter to reaching six inches in leg span.
Read the full study in the open-source journal ZooKeys.