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Are spiders turtlely enough for the Turtle Club? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] 13 points 1 year ago* (16 children)

Even if that particular picture was AI (I don't think it is), there is nothing surprising or exaggerated going on here. More like it's a rather rare/undocumented behaviour. Bit it's totally within the capabilities of a fishing spider.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (15 children)

    Yeah I’ve looked a bit harder and I see the spider shape a bit better now (from underneath), the slight motion blur in places would suggest not AI but I’m not totally convinced. From a quick search these spiders aren’t that big so that must be a very baby turtle, and I don’t know what’s going on around the mouth but it doesn’t look right, nor does the interference pattern of the ripples.

    Agreeing with me would make a lot of people a lot more comfortable 😅

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  • [–] [S] 11 points 1 year ago* (9 children)

    The sizes make sense - the turtle is on the smaller end and likely a juvenile, but both seem appropriately sized - the spiders can grow that big, especially if female.

    I found this in a group for spider enthusiasts - these are the kinds of geeks that will look at a spider leg and get it down to class. AI is not good at generating invertebrate species specific traits yet. While this is pretty spectacular - not a daily event - these are both species that can be found in the same area, and these spiders will attack vertebrate pray.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (5 children)

    It's not a spider preying on a vertebrate that is hard to believe, it is the lifting. Even ignoring the physics of the situation, I don't think fishing spiders hunt that way.

    People act like they've forgotten that there are other ways than AI to fake an image.

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  • [–] [S] 7 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Here’s one eating a frog.

    What specifically about the physics of the situation is making you suspicious? I’ve worked in an invertebrate lab, admittedly primarily with ants, and nothing about this raises alarm bells.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

    I imagine the weight of that turtle to be considerably more than that frog.

    Also how do you think that spider is holding that turtle? Just what do you think has a grip on what?

    Also zoom in and notice the odd gray smudging along the spider leg that is in front of the turtle shell. I'm no Photoshop expert but that looks suspicious to me.

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  • [–] [S] 6 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    Spiders routinely hold onto 100x more than their weight. Are you basing any of this on a knowledge of invertebrate biology? Ants can do similarly impressive feats - that’s something I will stand firmly by, as someone who’s name is in papers in ant research.

    My actual degree is in physics too, and I’ll say that often things that seem counterintuitive are entirely supported by physics ;)

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    BTW 100x is only possible with very small arthropods, the larger the ant or spider and the smaller that strength to weight ratio can be.

    Now admittedly we can't really know how large the spider and turtle are, if they are much smaller than I am imagining then my incredulity may be similarly out of proportion.

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  • [–] -1 points 1 year ago

    Every picture of a fishing spider I can find is holding its (smaller than this turtle) prey at the water's edge, not dangling upside down with it in midair. They hunt by walking on the water, not by dangling and snatching from above. Are we to believe it caught its prey the normal way and then walked it up to that awkward position?

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

    From a quick search these spiders aren’t that big

    25-28mm body length is quite a considerable size. I think a cousin of these is often dubbed the "UK's largest spider", even though it technically isn't. But they are up there. Yes, the US has tarantulas, giant house spiders and some larger wolf spiders, but Dolomedes is up there as well.

    Credit "Spiders of North America" by Sarah Rose.

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