Dr Kuntner explained that the widely accepted theory was that evolutionary pressure was causing female "gigantism", with the females increasing in size in order to produce larger numbers of offspring.

He and his colleague, Jonathan Coddington, from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, fear the rare spider might be endangered.

"Its range is restricted and all known localities lie within two endangered biodiversity（生物品种） hotspots: Maputaland and Madagascar," said Dr Coddington.

Dr Kuntner named the species in honour of his best friend and fellow scientist Andrej Komac, who recently died in an accident.

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