National Geographic: UC professor discusses ancient spiders
UC biology professor Nathan Morehouse says fossils suggest ancient spiders were night predators
A University of Cincinnati biology professor spoke to National Geographic about the recent discovery of spider fossils in South Korea.
The discovery by the Korea Polar Research Institute suggests ancient spiders had reflective eyes like many of today’s spiders.
If you shine a flashlight in your grassy back yard, you’re likely to see tiny eyes shining back at you. These are the glowing eyes of wolf spiders, which have an iridescent lens called a tapetum that reflects light.
According to National Geographic, paleontologists discovered nearly a dozen inch-long fossils of ancient spiders dating back more than 106 million years during the Cretaceous Period. These spiders, too, have reflective lenses that capture more light for animals that are active at night. Their findings were published in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology.
“These fossils are extraordinary,” UC biology professor Nathan Morehouse told National Geographic.
“It’s always a thrill when something of the visual system is preserved,” he said. “More exciting to me and other vision scientists is the glimpse that the tapetum offers into the lifestyle of these ancient animals. They were likely nocturnal hunters!”
Morehouse has been studying the vision and behavior of spiders, particularly jumping spiders, in UC’s McMicken College of Arts and Sciences. He is using a National Science Foundation grant to study spider vision around the world.
UC biology professor Nathan Morehouse talks about his spider research in his lab. Photo/Jay Yocis/UC Creative Services
Featured image at top: UC biology professor Nathan Morehouse uses micro-spectrophotometry to measure how the photoreceptor cells in spiders absorb light. Photo/Jay Yocis/UC Creative Services
Related Stories
Investing in the minds that shape our skyline
April 6, 2026
In 2002, the City of Cincinnati began the demolition of the 32-year-old Riverfront Stadium. This created a slew of memories for Cincinnati residents who knew the stadium as the home of the “Big Red Machine” baseball dynasty and the place where Cincinnati hosted three World Series Championships. Riverfront Stadium was especially meaningful to its former construction manager, Donald E. Wehmeyer, Eve ’61.
What is the 'cicada' COVID variant?
April 6, 2026
A formerly rare strain of COVID, BA.3.2, now is showing up in Ohio and 24 other states. Experts say so far it hasn't caused illness any more severe than other strains, but it might be somewhat more resistant to vaccines, as 91.7 WVXU News recently reported. Scientists have nicknamed the variant "cicada" due to its former low profile and current resurgence.
UC opens zebrafish research facility to study infertility
April 6, 2026
The University of Cincinnati is launching a state-of-the-art zebrafish research facility that scientists say could help explain how environmental toxins affect fertility, as WKRC-TV/Local 12 and WLWT-TV/Ch. 5 recently reported.