JACKSON, Wyo. — A potentially new species of spider has been discovered on the Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF).
Trevor Bloom, forest botanist for BTNF, was part of the local team that collected samples of the spider. Bloom was previously involved in the discovery of two new species of eyeless spiders in the Dominican Republic, and was volunteering with the BTNF cave program when the new spider was found.
Bloom says he believes the spider is likely a new species, and suggests this could be the first time this genus of spider, Sclerobunus, has been discovered in Wyoming.
Bloom tells Buckrail that the initial genetic analysis was done by Shahan Derkarabetian at Harvard University’s Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. While there’s still more work to be done to confirm and describe the species, the possibility looks promising.
“Either way, the population from this cave is something new!”
Shahan Derkarabetian, Harvard University
“Genetically, [the spider] falls in a group that includes some specimens from caves in Utah and Montana,” Derkarabetian writes in a message shared with Buckrail by Bloom. “These caves all include populations that were not included in any previous analyses….What I am not sure [of], and will take more detailed analyses and more samples, is whether those populations are a single new species (not likely given geographic distance) or multiple species. Either way, the population from this cave is something new!”
Bloom emphasizes that even with just the preliminary information, the potential for a new species of spider highlights the importance of protecting local caves that could house species that aren’t found anywhere else.
“These caves are really fragile ecosystems,” Bloom says. “They tend to harbor really unique environments and, in some cases, rare and unique species. There is a problem currently with caves and graffiti, people throwing trash into them or recreating in them to a degree that’s actually harmful. We should really think of these systems as important; they could contain species that aren’t even known to science.”
The cave with this potentially new species of spider found on the BTNF is currently considered a “Significant Cave” by the U.S. Forest Service, a special designation to help national forests protect, manage and monitor the unique resources inside. Samantha Marks, BTNF Cave and Glacier Program manager, says this cave was designated in 2022 “due to its biota, geologic/mineralogic/paleontologic, hydrologic and educational/scientific resources.”
Marks says there’s also a “funky” bacteria in the same cave that the BTNF hasn’t even begun researching, and bright yellow beetles that evolved to their specific environment.
According to Marks, while education and recreation are important parts of the BTNF’s mission, a cave can be particularly sensitive, making it less of an ideal space for public visitation.
“It has more nonrenewable resources,” Marks tells Buckrail. “It only takes one person to forever change it.”
Part of Marks’ goal with the Cave and Glacier Program is to better research and identify the varying degrees of individual caves’ sensitivity levels to inform future management. She notes that cave sensitivity is a range, where some of the caves on the BTNF will be more durable than others.
Stay tuned for more information on the BTNF cave program, “Significant Caves” and Cave Week.
