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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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[–] [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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