Scientists in Australia have discovered a ‘giant’ species of Sydney funnel-web spider, one of the world’s deadliest. Nicknamed ‘Big Boy’, the species was originally found by Kane Christensen, a spider enthusiast and ex-head of spiders at the Australian Reptile Park. in the early 2000s near Newcastle, 170 km north of Sydney.

An international team of scientists has revised the classification of Australia's most famous spider. With a bite more deadly to humans than that of any other spider, the iconic Sydney funnel-web has long been considered a single species,

Australian scientists have discovered a bigger, more venomous species of the Sydney funnel-web spider, one of the world's deadliest.

Now scientists in Australia have discovered a new funnel-web spider which is even bigger and more venomous. Kane Christensen is behind the discovery and says "its venom glands are a lot larger and its fangs are a lot longer". The new species has been named Atrax christenseni after the man that discovered it.

A larger and more venomous species of one of the world's deadliest spiders has been confirmed by Australian scientists. Nicknamed 'big boy', it can grow up to 9cm (3.54 inches) compared with 5cm (1.97 inches) for the more common Sydney funnel-web.

They say good things come in threes—but is that true even for the most venomous spider in the world? Scientists in Germany and Australia have reclassified one of the world’s most infamous arachnids. In their research,