A spider-snake hybrid would probably cause more heart attacks than cholesterol, so it's a relief such a thing doesn't exist ... kind of. There is, in fact, a snake out there that pretends to be a spider. And even though it's not an actual snake-spider hybrid, it's still probably the last thing anyone wants to see.
As documented by National Geographic, the rarely-seen Iranian spider-tailed viper is exactly that — a snake with a tail that looks like a spider. That tail is actually a lure, much like the illuminated lure dangling from the head of an anglerfish. Yasouj University biologist Behzad Fathinia and his team noticed a viper doing this for the first time in 2015, and even filmed it (as seen above). Basically, the viper lies in wait, camouflaged among the rocks, shifting the spider-looking part of its tail this way and that, until its favorite food — birds, usually warblers — swoops down to munch. Then, within .2 seconds, the viper strikes, incapacitating the poor birdie and readying itself for a tasty meal.
Interestingly, this snake has only been its own species since 2006 — we've known it existed since 1968, but it was misclassified as a regular viper with a birth defect. In hindsight, those researchers were probably just in denial that such an unholy abomination exists.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunCDkW9nbmekmr%2BztcWyoKefXai7orfErGSwp6KhsXA%3D