The creature is a type of harvestmen, a group of arachnids colloquially called "daddy longlegs" and frequently mistaken for spiders. (The two animals are related, as both are types of arachnids.)
The species hasn't previously been described, according to a release announcing the finding.
The arachnid's super-long legs make it one of the largest harvestmen ever found. The record-holding species, from South America, has a leg span of 13.4 inches (34 cm), according to the statement.
The creature was discovered by Peter Jäger, an arachnologist at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany. Jäger found the creature recently while in Laos to film a TV show, collecting spiders and arachnids in between shots.
After failing to identify the species himself, Jäger enlisted the help of a harvestmen expert who couldn't find any published description of the animal.
The researchers haven't named the new species yet, and hope to conduct a study of it to pinpoint its place in the harvestmen's evolutionary family tree.
Source: MSNBC