The venomous claws of Yosemite’s dark granite caves
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!” Lewis Carroll, “Jabberwocky” from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872 (Note, this book is not copyrighted in the United States.)
Texas Tech University News announced the discovery of a new animal, a type of pseudoscorpion with venom-filled claws, in the talus caves of Yosemite Valley! The arachnids have abdomens like spiders, with eight legs, and claws like scorpions, but they lack the stinging tail of true scorpions.
The new pseudoscorpion, Parobisium yosemite, is also blind, slow-moving, and about half an inch long. 
Parobisium yosemite is found only (so far ) in dark granite caves, probably only the second species of pseudoscorpion to be found in a granite cave. Most cave-dwelling species live in limestone caves, which are more hospitable.
“When we introduced other animals into the petri dish it would go over and tap the animal [with its venom-filled claws]. When it did that, it was able to sense chemical cues there such as identification, how large the item was and whether it was something suitable to eat.”
The article has a video with a full interview with Cokendolpher.
-Bill at
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