Mexican Flame Knee and Salmon Pink tarantula

Brachypelma auratum and Lasiodora parahybana

World Museum currently displays two species of tarantula – the Mexican Flame Knee and the Salmon Pink tarantula. 

Scientists believe that insects first evolved over 480 million years ago, whilst the first spiders have existed for at least 380 million years. Many evolved into huge sizes during the Carboniferous period, which lasted from 358 to 303 million years ago.  

Prehistoric Tarantulas are thought to have evolved 120 million years ago during the Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs still dominated the planet.  They likely evolved on the ancient supercontinent Gondwana (now South America, Africa, India, and Australia), spreading as the continents drifted apart.

Tarantula fossils are rare, because their bodies are soft and so often decay before they have a chance to fossilise.  Fossils such as Cretamygale chasei, dating back about 100 million years, show that early tarantulas already shared many features with modern species.