Imperial College London - Eight legs, three dimensions

Early relatives of modern spiders have been modelled in 3D by scientists at Imperial College London. A team led by Russell Garwood, a PhD student, created images of the 3,000-year-old creatures using a computed tomography scanning device. Several thousand X-rays were taken of fossils, which were used to compile the models. The study has shed light on the physical characteristics that helped two species, Cryptomartus hindi and Eophrynus prestvicii, to hunt and evade predators.