According to the San Antonio Express-News, the sudden appearance of a rare, endangered species of spider in northwest San Antonio two weeks back has put the $15.1 million San Antonio highway underpass project on indefinite hold.

As per the information shared by the Zara Environmental president, biologist Jean Krejca - a consultant for the Texas Department of Transportation on the project –, the rare spider which was sighted unexpectedly in a highway median is an eyeless spider, dubbed the Braken Bat Cave meshweaver, which has been on the federal list of endangered species since 2000.

Krejca further revealed that the Braken Bat Cave meshweaver spider – almost the size of a dime - was sighted after almost three decades, when a 6-foot-deep natural hole was exposed, because of rain, in the middle of the highway construction project at Texas 151 and Loop 1604 in northwestern San Antonio.

After Krejca confirmed that the spider, though not known to be venomous to humans, was indeed the endangered Braken Bat Cave meshweaver, the construction on the highway project – which began in April – was halted for an indefinite period.

Noting that the complete area where the Braken Bat Cave meshweaver was discovered two weeks back could be a spider habitat, Krejca described the rare spider’s unexpected discovery as one similar to "stumbling on a new Galapagos Island in terms of the biological significance of the region.”