Cosmophasis thalassina (Sea-green Jumping Spider)

IUCN Status: Not Assessed

So jumping spiders…. I hate to inform you but these may be the most terrifying predators on the planet. First they are able to physically overpower prey many times their size, but also poses venom to tip the scales even further in their favour. They can also see in almost 360 degrees thanks to the array of eight eyes spanning the head.

They spot their prey from a distance and use their namesake leap to pounce on it. The particularly terrifying thing about jumping spiders is their ability to track and predict prey behaviour. They can also make informed, planned decisions regarding movement through their environment based on “genuine cognition” (i.e. thinking).

Mark once pointed up that if they were scaled up to the size of a house cat, you’d have a poisonous, armoured predator that could lose sight of you, flank you and easily kill you. Completely OP!