Researchers say they used anatomical and DNA comparisons to study different populations of the Sydney funnel-web spider – one of the world’s deadliest spiders – and found there were three species, only two of which were previously known to science.

There are several genera of funnel web spiders, but the most common ones in Australia are Atrax, Hadronyche, and Illawarra. They vary in size and color, usually black or brown, with shiny carapaces. The males are generally smaller and less robust than the females.

Now scientists in Australia have discovered a new funnel-web spider which is even bigger and more venomous. Kane Christensen is behind the discovery and says "its venom glands are a lot larger and its fangs are a lot longer". The new species has been named Atrax christenseni after the man that discovered it.

Australian scientists have discovered a bigger, more venomous species of the Sydney funnel-web spider, one of the world's deadliest.

A new, in-depth study of the spider has discovered that what we thought was one species is actually three. That means there are two new species of the world's most venomous spider, but the discovery is actually good news: it will allow scientists to better characterize and understand the venom each species produces.

They say good things come in threes—but is that true even for the most venomous spider in the world? Scientists in Germany and Australia have reclassified one of the world’s most infamous arachnids. In their research,

By Shreya Dasgupta The Sydney funnel-web spider, a highly venomous arachnid found crawling in and around Australia’s most populous city, was long thought to be a single species. But it’s actually three different species,