The zookeeper took a photo of the spider, shared it with the zoo’s conservation and research department and found that it did not match any existing records for a known species.
Rebecca Godwin at Piedmont College in Georgia was in the process of looking at this group of spiders, which is related to tarantulas, when the specimen came her way.
“Spiders of this type are usually habitat specialists and can live for decades in the same burrow for their entire life,” the zoo said.
Only a small portion of the pine rockland ecosystem remains in Miami-Dade County and wildlife officials believe the species to already be imperiled.