A relatively large species of tarantula discovered in an isolated mountain range in Colombia has been named after the famed Colombian novelist and 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Gabriel García Márquez.

The new spider, scientifically named Kankuamo marquezi, was discovered in the Colombian mountain range Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

With its extraordinary defensive hairs, Kankuamo marquezi proved itself as not only a new species, but also a new genus.

A team of scientists led by Dr. Carlos Perafán from the University of the Republic, Uruguay, described the new genus and species in the journal ZooKeys.

“Kankuamo is a noun in apposition and refers to the indigenous people of the Chibcha family from the Caribbean region of Colombia, which inhabits the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, whose language and culture are at endangered,” the researchers explained.

“The specific epithet is a noun in genitive in honor to Gabriel García Márquez, who was a renowned Colombian writer, considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century, and awarded the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature for One Hundred years of Solitude.”

When examined, Kankuamo marquezi showed something extraordinary about its defensive hairs and its genitalia.

The hairs were noted to form a small oval patch of lance-shaped barbs, hypothesized by the team to have evolved to defend their owners by direct contact.

On the other hand, when defending against their aggressors, the rest of the tarantulas in the Theraphosinae subfamily need to first face the offender and then vigorously rub their hind legs against their stomachs.

Aimed and shot at the enemy, a ball of stinging hairs can cause fatal injuries to small mammals when landed into their mucous membrane. Once thrown, the hairs leave a bald spot on the tarantula’s belly.

“This new finding is a great contribution to the knowledge of the arachnids in Colombia and a sign of how much remains to be discovered,” Dr. Perafán and co-authors said.

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Perafán C. et al. 2016. Kankuamo, a new theraphosid genus from Colombia (Araneae, Mygalomorphae), with a new type of urticating setae and divergent male genitalia. ZooKeys 601: 89-109; doi: 10.3897/zookeys.601.7704