- Messages
- 59
- Location
- Bedfordshire, England, UK
On Friday, I went to London Zoo with my Mum and we went to a talk on Spiders/Tarantulas.
The guy introduced a Mexican Red Knee and then asked the question
"What is this? A tarantula or a spider?"
I answered this to be a Tarantula, but the guy said that it's actually classed as a spider as there are only two proper species of Tarantula...the rest are classed as "bird-eating spiders". This led me to thinking whether this guy was right, especially after all the books etc. class Mexican Red Knees and most of the other species as being Tarantulas.
So, who do you think is right on this? Me, or the guy doing the talk?
Apart from that one question...the guy was really impressed with my knowledge on Tarantulas and practically drooled when I told him I had a Brachypelma auratum (Mystery) lol.
Any ideas on the question though?
Julia x
The guy introduced a Mexican Red Knee and then asked the question
"What is this? A tarantula or a spider?"
I answered this to be a Tarantula, but the guy said that it's actually classed as a spider as there are only two proper species of Tarantula...the rest are classed as "bird-eating spiders". This led me to thinking whether this guy was right, especially after all the books etc. class Mexican Red Knees and most of the other species as being Tarantulas.
So, who do you think is right on this? Me, or the guy doing the talk?
Apart from that one question...the guy was really impressed with my knowledge on Tarantulas and practically drooled when I told him I had a Brachypelma auratum (Mystery) lol.
Any ideas on the question though?
Julia x
Taxonomy even in vertebrates is up in the air a lot of times, and in inverts it is worse, especially when it comes to common names. People will argue day and night over where to place something.
