{"id":109453,"date":"2025-11-04T08:34:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T08:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/?p=109453"},"modified":"2025-11-04T20:35:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T20:35:23","slug":"how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Tiny Spider Cut Its DNA in Half But Became More Diverse Than Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When small red devil spiders colonized the Canary Islands millions of years ago, they began one of the strangest genetic journeys of any creature. Although the <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dysdera tilosensis <\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">looks very similar to its mainland cousins, the island spider has shed almost half of its genome. Yet it is, paradoxically, the most genetically diverse of its genus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The discovery <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">goes <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">completely<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> against<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> what scientists thought they knew about how species evolve on islands.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Known as the founder effect, when a small group of animals becomes isolated on an island, they usually face less selective pressure. Their genome usually expands with the accumulation of repetitive, non-functional DNA. Genetic diversity drops. This spider took the opposite path.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThe genome downsizing of the spider <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">D. tilosensis<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8230;is one of the first documented cases of drastic genome downsizing,\u201d said study co-author Julio Rozas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Researchers <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">think<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> that millions of years ago, a few adventurous ancestors of the <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dysdera<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> genus <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">made their way<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> from Europe to Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, off the northwest coast of Africa.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Possibly, they hitched a ride on floating debris. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Once there, the little spiders found a brand-new world of volcanic landscapes and empty niches. There are now almost 50\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dysedera<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> species on the islands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/mbe\/article\/42\/9\/msaf206\/8238216?login=false\">new study<\/a> focuses on one particular type, <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dysdera tilosensis. <\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Over a few million years,\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">it<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">went through this<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> remarkable genetic streamlining.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Compared to its mainland relative, <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dysdera catalonica<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, the island spider\u2019s genome is about half the size. It has roughly 1.7 billion DNA bases compared to\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dysdera catalonica&#8217;<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">s 3.3 billion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Most would expect such a massive cut in genetic material to make a species less genetically diverse, but the opposite has happened. The spider didn\u2019t lose any essential genes for survival. Instead, it seems to have gotten rid of large stretches of repetitive and unnecessary DNA &#8212; the \u201cgenomic junk\u201d that makes up a <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">huge<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> portion of many genomes. The little arachnid actually shows more DNA variation than other closely related species.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Scientists <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">think<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> this <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">might<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> be because the island population has <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">stayed<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> large and stable for a very long time.<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With fewer pressures from predators and a <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">stable<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> environment, natural selection could steadily <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">weed out<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> unnecessary DNA.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Over time, <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">only the <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">useful<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> and efficient parts of the genome were kept<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Usually, when a small group of animals becomes isolated on an island, they lose genetic diversity. This puzzling little spider flipped the script.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2117,"featured_media":109454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[86],"coauthors":[142],"class_list":["post-109453","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How a Tiny Spider Cut Its DNA in Half But Became More Diverse Than Ever &#187; Explorersweb<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Usually, when a small group of animals becomes isolated on an island, they lose genetic diversity. This puzzling little spider flipped the script.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How a Tiny Spider Cut Its DNA in Half But Became More Diverse Than Ever &#187; Explorersweb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Usually, when a small group of animals becomes isolated on an island, they lose genetic diversity. This puzzling little spider flipped the script.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Explorersweb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheExplorersWeb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-04T08:34:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-04T20:35:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/deciphering-the-mechan-6-e1761300435504.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rebecca McPhee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ExplorersWeb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ExplorersWeb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rebecca McPhee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rebecca McPhee\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2426783167c0a2fe0fc9f1e0d751883\"},\"headline\":\"How a Tiny Spider Cut Its DNA in Half But Became More Diverse Than Ever\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-04T08:34:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-04T20:35:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/\"},\"wordCount\":391,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/deciphering-the-mechan-6-e1761300435504.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/\",\"name\":\"How a Tiny Spider Cut Its DNA in Half But Became More Diverse Than Ever &#187; Explorersweb\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/deciphering-the-mechan-6-e1761300435504.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-04T08:34:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-04T20:35:23+00:00\",\"description\":\"Usually, when a small group of animals becomes isolated on an island, they lose genetic diversity. This puzzling little spider flipped the script.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/deciphering-the-mechan-6-e1761300435504.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/deciphering-the-mechan-6-e1761300435504.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":319,\"caption\":\"The spider from the mainland (Dysdera catalonica, left) and from the Canary Islands (Dysdera tilosensis, right). Photo: University of Barcelona\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How a Tiny Spider Cut Its DNA in Half But Became More Diverse Than Ever\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/\",\"name\":\"Explorersweb\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Explorer's Web\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/23234250\/Exweb.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/23234250\/Exweb.png\",\"width\":1409,\"height\":651,\"caption\":\"Explorer's Web\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheExplorersWeb\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ExplorersWeb\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/explorersweb\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCicVrtWv5xz64da1wb5FUPQ\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2426783167c0a2fe0fc9f1e0d751883\",\"name\":\"Rebecca McPhee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9d70ac922f2bcf1e79088023c203ffa0\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/24003033\/IMG_0241-100x100.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/24003033\/IMG_0241-100x100.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Rebecca McPhee\"},\"description\":\"Rebecca is a freelance writer and science teacher based in the UK. She is a keen traveler and has been lucky enough to backpack her way around parts of Africa, South America, and Asia. With a background in marine biology, she is interested in everything to do with the oceans. Her areas of expertise include open water sports, marine wildlife and adventure travel.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/author\/rebecca-mcphee\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How a Tiny Spider Cut Its DNA in Half But Became More Diverse Than Ever &#187; Explorersweb","description":"Usually, when a small group of animals becomes isolated on an island, they lose genetic diversity. This puzzling little spider flipped the script.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How a Tiny Spider Cut Its DNA in Half But Became More Diverse Than Ever &#187; Explorersweb","og_description":"Usually, when a small group of animals becomes isolated on an island, they lose genetic diversity. This puzzling little spider flipped the script.","og_url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/","og_site_name":"Explorersweb","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheExplorersWeb","article_published_time":"2025-11-04T08:34:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-04T20:35:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":319,"url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/deciphering-the-mechan-6-e1761300435504.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rebecca McPhee","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ExplorersWeb","twitter_site":"@ExplorersWeb","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rebecca McPhee","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/"},"author":{"name":"Rebecca McPhee","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2426783167c0a2fe0fc9f1e0d751883"},"headline":"How a Tiny Spider Cut Its DNA in Half But Became More Diverse Than Ever","datePublished":"2025-11-04T08:34:29+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-04T20:35:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/"},"wordCount":391,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/deciphering-the-mechan-6-e1761300435504.jpg","articleSection":["Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/","url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/","name":"How a Tiny Spider Cut Its DNA in Half But Became More Diverse Than Ever &#187; Explorersweb","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/deciphering-the-mechan-6-e1761300435504.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-04T08:34:29+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-04T20:35:23+00:00","description":"Usually, when a small group of animals becomes isolated on an island, they lose genetic diversity. This puzzling little spider flipped the script.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/deciphering-the-mechan-6-e1761300435504.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/deciphering-the-mechan-6-e1761300435504.jpg","width":800,"height":319,"caption":"The spider from the mainland (Dysdera catalonica, left) and from the Canary Islands (Dysdera tilosensis, right). Photo: University of Barcelona"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/how-a-tiny-spider-cut-its-dna-in-half-but-became-more-diverse-than-ever\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How a Tiny Spider Cut Its DNA in Half But Became More Diverse Than Ever"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/","name":"Explorersweb","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#organization","name":"Explorer's Web","url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/23234250\/Exweb.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/23234250\/Exweb.png","width":1409,"height":651,"caption":"Explorer's Web"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheExplorersWeb","https:\/\/x.com\/ExplorersWeb","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/explorersweb\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCicVrtWv5xz64da1wb5FUPQ"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2426783167c0a2fe0fc9f1e0d751883","name":"Rebecca McPhee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9d70ac922f2bcf1e79088023c203ffa0","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/24003033\/IMG_0241-100x100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/24003033\/IMG_0241-100x100.jpg","caption":"Rebecca McPhee"},"description":"Rebecca is a freelance writer and science teacher based in the UK. She is a keen traveler and has been lucky enough to backpack her way around parts of Africa, South America, and Asia. With a background in marine biology, she is interested in everything to do with the oceans. Her areas of expertise include open water sports, marine wildlife and adventure travel.","url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/author\/rebecca-mcphee\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109453"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=109453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}