Ancient Daddy Long-Legs with Extra Eyes.

Heltzel, Paul. "Ancient Daddy Longlegs Had Extra Eyes."
Photograph. Discovery.
Discovery Communications, 12 Apr. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
 <http://news.discovery.com/animals/
ancient-daddy-longlegs-had-extra-eyes-140412.htm>. 

The article talks about how scientists found an ancient daddy long-leg called harvestmen. They say that this spider has an extra pair of eyes along the middle part of the body and the ones on the sides. They also mention that this type of spider is more closer related to a scorpion because it has eight legs. They also talk about how this ancient harvestmen has a second pair of eyes. The researchers say that they are embryos and that's why they have extra pair of eyes.

This can relate to the biology class with Mrs. Dixon. In her class we learned how other animals were different from their ancestors because of different genes traits. We talked about embryos and hybrids and how different animals were this type, but being related because of some similar traits.

I feel surprised about this article because I didn't know these types of spiders could be more closely related to a scorpion. From this article I learned more about these types of spiders and it interested me. I would like to find out more about different types of spiders and about their ancestry.

What is the central idea of the passage and how is it developed and refined throughout the selection? The central idea of the passage is to talk about the ancient harvestmen spider. It is developed and refined throughout the selection by describing how the spider looks. For example, they said this, "The ancient harvestmen had a pair of eyes along the middle of the body -- like their modern counterparts -- but they also had a pair of eyes on the side of the body" (Heltzel). The author also developed and refined the selection by talking about where they came from, "Though Harvestmen have eight legs and are categorized as arachnids, they're not spiders. They're more closely related to scorpions" (Heltzel). 

Heltzel, Paul. "Ancient Daddy Longlegs Had Extra Eyes." Discovery. Discovery Communications, 12 Apr. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. <http://news.discovery.com/animals/ancient-daddylonglegs-had-extra-eyes-140412.htm>.