New pseudoscorpion discovered in Yosemite National Park (w/ Video)

[The Straight Story]

New pseudoscorpion discovered in Yosemite National Park (w/ Video)
November 30, 2010

(PhysOrg.com) -- It waits blindly in the darkness of granite caves in Yosemite National Park, moving little to conserve energy.

Its venom-filled claw at the ready, it waits for prey to amble by it. Giving a quick tap to a possible meal, this newly discovered, blind pseudoscorpion will grab the prey and wait for the poison to take hold. Then, it will eat.

Thankfully, at less than half an inch in length with legs outstretched, Parobisium yosemite poses little threat to humans or any other animals larger than an eighth of an inch, said James C. Cokendolpher, a research scientist and assistant curator of invertebrates at The Museum of Texas Tech University.

He and Austin-based researcher, Jean K. Krejca, recently documented the new arachnid in the Sept. 30th Occasional Papers by Texas Tech University’s Natural Science Research Laboratories. The new animal is commonly called the Yosemite cave pseudoscorpion.

“This pseudoscorpion was originally found three or four years ago,” Cokendolpher said. “There was a team from Austin that was hired to go into some of the caves in Yosemite National Park to do a survey and map some of the caves. Jean was one of the first ones to discover the species. She and others caught two of them, which were sent to me for identification. Once we discovered it was a species unknown to science, they went back and collected in some other areas to see if the species was there.”

http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-pseudoscorpion-yosemite-national-video.html

[iamtechus]

1. All that todo and not even a sketch of the little guy.

[Quantess]

2. Click on the link, s/he's in the YouTube video.

Super tiny. Kinda cute.