How Big Can Spiders Grow?

To a lot of people in the world, spiders are scary. To those same people, giant spiders are SUPER scary. But how big can spiders actually get, and how big was the largest spider that ever lived? Video Sources: Walking with Monsters (2005) Super Spider (2013) A New Prehistory (2016) Kong: Skull Island (2017) Life on Our Planet (2023) Image Sources: https://www.fossilguy.com/gallery/invert/arthropod/eurypterid/index.htm https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/18/science/arthropleura-giant-arthropod-fossil/index.html https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/carboniferous https://www.thoughtco.com/respiratory-system-4064891 https://www.geologypage.com/2020/03/meganeura-the-largest-insect-ever-existed-was-a-giant-dragonfly.html https://www.dupageforest.org/blog/wolf-spider-friend-or-foe https://zientzia.eus/artikuluak/inoiz-aurkitu-duten-armiarma-fosil-handiena/en/ https://www.thoughtco.com/how-insects-smell-1968161 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-ancient-land-scorpion-Pulmonoscorpius-kirktonensis-is-remarkably-similar-to-a_fig1_360042159 https://evolutionnews.org/2023/03/fossil-friday-the-abrupt-origin-of-winged-insects/ Research Sources: 1) The First Paleozoic Spider (Arachnida: Araneae) from Germany. Dunlop. 2023 2) Atmospheric Oxygen of the Paleozoic Brand et al. 2021 3) Evolution of Atmospheric O2 Through the Phanerozoic, Revisited Mills et al. 2023 4) Environmental and Biotic Controls on the Evolutionary History of Insect Body Size Clapham & Carr. 2012 https://news.ucsc.edu/2012/06/giant-insects.html