Maputaland is a part of South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, that is tucked in between Swaziland, Mozambique, and the endless white beaches of the warm Indian Ocean coast. It is a vast remote and magical place of shimmering lakes, forests, bush and pristine seashore.

Meet the newest odd couple of the animal kingdom: the giant female and tiny male of the largest web-spinning spider known to science: Nephila komaci.

The female of the species has a leg span of up to 5 inches (12 centimeters), while the male—which spends much of its time clambering on its partner’s back—barely reaches an inch (2.5 centimeters), a new study says.

Part of a well-known group of golden orb-weaver spiders—which can spin webs up to three feet (one meter) wide—N. komaci was first identified in a South African museum collection in 2000.

But it wasn’t until a 2007 field survey, which discovered three individuals in South Africa’s Tembe Elephant Park, that scientists knew the spider still existed in the wild.

The newfound spider, detailed October 20 in the journal PLoS One, is the first addition to the Nephila genus since 1879.

* The leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, is the largest turtle and fourth largest reptile.
* Leatherback turtles inhabit the deep waters of the world’s oceans. They migrate between cold waters and tropical seas every 1 to 3 years.
* Male leatherbacks never leave the water. Female leatherbacks come ashore to lay eggs and nest. They lay clutches of roughly 100 eggs on warm, sandy beaches but don’t nest continuously. Female leatherbacks nest once every 8 to 15 days.
* The leatherback turtle has a round, flat body and two pairs of flippers like all sea turtles. The leatherback is the only sea turtle not to have a shell. Instead of a hard bony plate, the leatherback has rubbery skin.
* Adults leatherbacks weigh 700 kg (1540 pounds) and measure 2 m (6.5 feet) in length. The largest leatherback ever recorded weighed 918 kg (2020 pounds) and measured 2.6 m (8.5 feet).
* Leatherback turtles feed on jellyfish and are a natural control for the jellyfish population.
* The leatherback is an endangered species and it is the last surviving member of the Dermochelys species.

* The leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, is the largest turtle and fourth largest reptile.

* Leatherback turtles inhabit the deep waters of the world’s oceans. They migrate between cold waters and tropical seas every 1 to 3 years.

* Male leatherbacks never leave the water. Female leatherbacks come ashore to lay eggs and nest. They lay clutches of roughly 100 eggs on warm, sandy beaches but don’t nest continuously. Female leatherbacks nest once every 8 to 15 days.

* The leatherback turtle has a round, flat body and two pairs of flippers like all sea turtles. The leatherback is the only sea turtle not to have a shell. Instead of a hard bony plate, the leatherback has rubbery skin.

* Adults leatherbacks weigh 700 kg (1540 pounds) and measure 2 m (6.5 feet) in length. The largest leatherback ever recorded weighed 918 kg (2020 pounds) and measured 2.6 m (8.5 feet).

* Leatherback turtles feed on jellyfish and are a natural control for the jellyfish population.

* The leatherback is an endangered species and it is the last surviving member of the Dermochelys species.