''Megamonodontium mccluskyi'' (

Mygalomorphae The Mygalomorphae, or mygalomorphs, are an infraorder of spiders, and comprise one of three major groups of living spiders with over 3,000 species, found on all continents except Antarctica. Many members are known as trapdoor spiders due to t ...

Barychelidae Barychelidae, also known as brushed trapdoor spiders, is a spider family with about 300 species in 39 genera. Behaviour Most spiders in this family build trapdoor burrows. For example, the long '' Sipalolasma'' builds its burrow in rotted wood, ...

) is an extinct species of spider from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

(16–11 million years ago). Its fossil was discovered in June 2020 in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, at

McGraths Flat McGraths Flat is an Australian research site containing fossils and other evidence of animals and plants that existed in Miocene Australia. Located in central New South Wales, specimens at the site are in an exceptional state of preservation, descri ...

fossil site, by Dr Simon McClusky. It is the first fossil of the

family ever found.

References

Barychelidae Monotypic prehistoric spider genera Fossil taxa described in 2023 Prehistoric animals of Australia Cenozoic arachnids {{Paleo-spider-stub