translated from Spanish: Spider “caveman” new species found in Argentina

Scientists from Argentina have discovered a new arachnid species “cavernicola” belonging to the opilion family known as patonas spiders.
The events occurred in the south of the province of Mendoza of Argentina, on Friday, January 31, 2020
In this line, the first specimens were found in the basaltic region of Payunia, in a volcanic cavern of more than 800 meters known as Doña Otilia, by Marcela Peralta, researcher of the Miguel Lillo Foundation, which led to the christening of the species as Otilioleptes marcelae.
As conicet itself disclosed, the samples were sent for analysis to Luis Acosta, the agency’s researcher at the Institute of Diversity and Animal Biology (IDEA, Conicet-UNC), who described and taxonomically classified the new species of opilion.

“Oploliones are a very common order of arachnids in wet areas. In Argentina, it is so common to find them in the Pampean region, Mesopotamia or the Yungas, as uncommon – in some cases, completely impossible – to find them in the midst of the aridity of Puna, Cuyo or Patagonia,” the agency explains in the communiqué.

Original source in Spanish

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