Baltic amber - rare extinct male spider (Anapidae Balticorma sp.)

i saw this while doing some shopping on etsy and thought it was neat :)

spider preserved in amber

an ancestral spider of modern day  Tetragnathidae or long-jawed orb weavers

spider perserved in amber

DYK: Although the fossil record of spiders is considered poor, almost 1000 species have been described from fossils. Because spiders’ bodies are quite soft, the vast majority of fossil spiders have been found preserved in amber.

The oldest known amber that contains fossil arthropods dates from 130 million years ago in the Early Cretaceous period. In addition to preserving spiders’ anatomy in very fine detail, pieces of amber show spiders mating, killing prey, producing silk and possibly caring for their young. In a few cases amber has preserved spiders’ egg sacs and webs, occasionally with prey attached; the oldest fossil web found so far is 100 million years old. Earlier spider fossils come from a few lagerstatten, places where conditions were exceptionally suited to preserving fairly soft tissues.