YouTuber on wilderness expedition discovers new species of tarantula in bamboo

A bamboo forest.
(Image credit: iStock)

JoCho Sippawat took a walk on the wild side, and found a new species of tarantula.

Sippawat is a YouTuber from Thailand whose videos focus on wildlife in his country. While exploring near his home in northwestern Thailand, Sippawat took photos of a tarantula that was living inside a hollowed-out bamboo stalk. He sent the pictures to Narin Chomphuphuang, an arachnologist who studies spiders at Khon Kaen University, and after going into the forest to see the tarantula for himself, Chomphuphuang determined the tarantula belongs to a new genus and species, NBC News reports.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.