Ancient Spider's Big Dong Immortalized For All Eternity

This ancient daddy longlegs spider was encased in amber along with its boner.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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What part of your life would you want preserved for future generations? Love letters to your wife, your social media posts, a portrait your ancestors can hang over the mantle? Or maybe your gigantic boner?

An ancient ancestor of the modern daddy longlegs spider went with the last option, although probably not by choice. But if you had a penis that was half the length of your body, you probably wouldn't mind leaving behind the evidence for future generations. 

As National Geographic reports, scientists found the ancient Halitherses grimaldii spider encased in a piece of amber in Burma, sporting the same erection that it popped 99 million years ago before it was engulfed in resin.

The find, which represents probably the best preserved penis of this variety ever discovered, was first detailed in the scientific journal The Science of Naturewhich also published this photo.

The specimen, it turns out, can actually teach scientists quite a bit about these ancient arachnids. We were pretty shocked to find out that spiders even had dicks, though Broadly spoke with an etymologist that explained the deal a little bit.

"... daddy longlegs, or harvestmen, aren't actually spiders, though they're close relatives. And one of the aspects that differentiates harvestmen from spiders is that they have dicks, in the traditional sense."

Good for you, harvestmen.

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