Students in field studies in Malaysia got a chance to practice real science as they found a new species of spider, identifying it in a taxonomy lab they built themselves and writing a publication for a renowned taxonomic journal.
Twenty students took part in a field course put together by the Netherlands' Naturalis Biodiversity Center.
The one-month exercise, conducted at a field center in Malaysian Borneo, taught students to investigate the ecosystem of a lowland tropical rainforest.
Students in the course were looking for web-weaving spiders in the family Symphytognathidae that build small webs among dead leaves littering the floor of the rainforest.
"When we started putting our noses to the ground we saw them everywhere," student Jennie Burmester from Denmark says.
Closer examination showed the excited students had found a previously unknown species of the tiny spiders, confirmed by course instructor Jeremy Miller.
The students were encouraged to undertake the scientific description and naming of the spider a project incorporated in the field course.
Just a millimeter in length, they used smartphones and the field center's microscopes to photograph the spiders and preserved one in alcohol to serve as a "holotype" reference specimen required for naming a new species.
The students agreed to name the species Crassignatha danaugirangensis, taken from the field center's location on a lake called Danau Girang.
The center sits in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in the Malaysian state of Sava, a small stretch of rainforest beside the state's major river, overshadowed by giant oil palm plantations to either side.
Using the center's satellite, the students submitted a scientific paper with their images and data to the online Biodiversity Data Journal.
Miller states that quickly getting the news published is important.
"It means we provide a quick anchor point for further work on this species; the naming of a species is the only way to make sure we're all singing from the same score." Said Miller.
The miniature spider is an example of numbers of unseen organisms living the tropical ecosystems that are sometimes overlooked in favor of more charismatic species like orangutans, the researchers said.
"This tiny new spider is a nice counterpoint to the large-mammal work we're doing and having it named after the field center is extremely cool," Benoit Goosens, head of the field station, said.
