PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS and NPR) — A few years ago, Greta Binford was hiking in the Columbia River Gorge when she saw a spider that “looked different from anything that I normally see when I roll over rocks and logs in this area,” she said.
An evolutionary biologist at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, she thought the spider looked liked a Trogloraptor — a distinctive family of spiders that have a small extra hook on the end of their feet, which make them better at pouncing on and biting other spiders. The family only contained one known species, which lives about 350 miles away.
Over the next few years, Binford found more of these mystery spiders that her lab observed, analyzed and tested. It was, in fact, a Trogloraptor, but a new species. And when a new species is discovered, scientists get the honor of naming it, usually something that reflects the organism’s characteristics or some source of inspiration. But Binford’s lab decided to share it.
“We had an idea, really spearheaded by my student, Madeline Jones, who suggested, ‘Why don’t we reach out to the local tribes and see if they have an idea for a name?’” Binford said.
Binford’s lab reached out to the Columbia River Inter-T …