There's a new jumping spider on the scene, one that can travel up to two meters -- or over three feet -- per second, with unique flic-flac moves similar to those in a gymnastic floor exercise

Discovered by Ingo Rechenberg, a bionics experts from Berlin, Germany, after whom the new arachnid species was named, the Cebrennus rechenbergi was announced recently in the journal Zootaxia by Peter Jäger, a spider expert at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt.

A nocturnal creature, the Cebrennus rechenbergi lives in the Erg Chebbi sand desert of southeastern Morocco, close to the Algerian border, researchers said.

The spider's most outstanding characteristic appears to be its ability to move by means of flic-flac jumping, or tumbling -- the only spider in the world known to move in that way.

Unlike Namibia's golden rolling spider, which is propels itself by passively rolling down sand dunes, the Cebrennus rechenbergi, according to its introductory report, uses its legs to create a springy rolling motion, pushing itself off the ground, followed by a series of rapid flic-flac leg movements that push it forward at a pace equal to nearly 5 miles per hour, twice as fast as it moves when it's walking.

Naturally, the extraordinary level of locomotion provides the spider great flexibility as it easily moves along level ground, uphill or downhill.

The Cebrennus rechenbergi accelerates to flic-flac mode when provoked or threatened by, say, another spider, a scorpion or human.

With its feelers and specialized, elongated bristles, Cebrennus rechenbergi builds a tube-like den in the sand that is attached by silk threads, which offer protection from the sun as well as predators.

Rechenberg discovered the creature during an expedition in Morocco and passed it on for taxonomic determination to Jäger, who determined that the flic-flac spider represents an entirely new species of arachnid.

Based on small differences in their sex organs, Jäger was able to distinguish Cebrennus rechenbergi from the closely related species Cebrennus villosus, which calls Tunisia home.

"However," noted Jäger, "the unique mode of locomotion also serves as a criterion to distinguish the species."