Most people likely wouldn't react well to being surprised by a venomous spider, but recently, scientists at Booderee National Park in Australia were excited when a highly venomous funnel-web spider appeared without warning.
Many species of funnel-web spiders, named for their funnel-shaped webs, are indigenous to Australia, but only one of these species, the Sydney funnel-web spider, is known to live in Booderee National Park.
Sydney funnel-webs (Atrax robustus) are ground-dwelling spiders with highly venomous bites that, before the development of an anti-venom, posed a serious medical risk to humans. But the spider found along Australia's southern coast by scientists from the Australian National University (ANU) wasn't Atrax robustus.