XLVI.—<i>On some Arachnid remains from the Old Red Sandstone (Rhynie Chert Bed, Aberdeenshire)</i>

Hirst, Stanley

doi:10.1080/00222932308632963

Cited by 108 publications

(85 citation statements)

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“…By the Late Carboniferous arachnids, such as spiders and scorpions, are largely known from their most basal lineages or from their stem forms 18 , only Palaeozoic mites 19,20 possess a similarly modern habitus. The presence here of two extant harvestman suborders provides compelling evidence for early Palaeozoic cladogenesis in the Opiliones.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anatomically modern Carboniferous harvestmen demonstrate early cladogenesis and stasis in Opiliones

et al. 2011

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Harvestmen, the third most-diverse arachnid order, are an ancient group found on all continental landmasses, except Antarctica. However, a terrestrial mode of life and leathery, poorly mineralized exoskeleton makes preservation unlikely, and their fossil record is limited. The few Palaeozoic species discovered to date appear surprisingly modern, but are too poorly preserved to allow unequivocal taxonomic placement. Here, we use high-resolution X-ray micro-tomography to describe two new harvestmen from the Carboniferous (~305 myr) of France. The resulting computer models allow the first phylogenetic analysis of any Palaeozoic opiliones, explicitly resolving both specimens as members of different extant lineages, and providing corroboration for molecular estimates of an early Palaeozoic radiation within the order. Furthermore, remarkable similarities between these fossils and extant harvestmen implies extensive morphological stasis in the order. Compared with other arachnids-and terrestrial arthropods generally-harvestmen are amongst the first groups to evolve fully modern body plans.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anatomically modern Carboniferous harvestmen demonstrate early cladogenesis and stasis in Opiliones

et al. 2011

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“…Were pseudoscorpions to prove to be closer to, say, Acariformes, the split would be somewhat older; constrained by the presence of these mites in the Early Devonian (ca. 412 Ma) Rhynie chert of Scotland (Hirst, 1923).…”

Section: Stem and Crown Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fossil history of pseudoscorpions (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones)

Harms

Dunlop

2017

Foss. Rec.

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Abstract. Pseudoscorpions, given their resemblance to scorpions, have attracted human attention since the time of Aristotle, although they are much smaller and lack the sting and elongated tail. These arachnids have a long evolutionary history but their origins and phylogenetic affinities are still being debated. Here, we summarise their fossil record based on a comprehensive review of the literature and data contained in other sources. Pseudoscorpions are one of the oldest colonisers of the land, with fossils known since the Middle Devonian (ca. 390 Ma). The only arachnid orders with an older fossil record are scorpions, harvestmen and acariform mites, plus two extinct groups. Pseudoscorpions do not fossilise easily, and records from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic consist almost exclusively of amber inclusions. Most Mesozoic fossils come from Archingeay and Burmese ambers (Late Cretaceous) and those from the Cenozoic are primarily from Eocene Baltic amber, although additional fossils from, for example, Miocene Dominican and Mexican ambers, are known. Overall, 16 of the 26 families of living pseudoscorpions have been documented from fossils and 49 currently valid species are recognised in the literature. Pseudoscorpions represent a case of morphological stasis and even the Devonian fossils look rather modern. Indeed, most amber fossils are comparable to Recent groups despite a major gap in the fossil record of almost 250 Myr. Baltic amber inclusions indicate palaeofauna inhabiting much warmer climates than today and point to climatic shifts in central Europe since the Eocene. They also indicate that some groups (e.g. Feaellidae and Pseudogarypidae) had much wider Eocene distributions. Their present-day occurrence is relictual and highlights past extinction events. Faunas from younger tropical amber deposits (e.g. Dominican and Mexican amber) are comparable to Recent ones. Generally, there is a strong bias in the amber record towards groups that live under tree bark, whereas those from litter habitats are underrepresented. We also discuss challenges in interpreting fossils: their cryptic morphology warranting novel techniques of morphological reconstruction, the massive gap in the fossil record between the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic, and problems with the classification of (historically) old amber material. Finally, we discuss aspects of the palaeoecology and biology of the fossils compared with the Recent fauna, such as phoresy.

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“…Some sternal elements also appear to be superimposed through onto the tergites as diagonal elements converging towards the midline, and the pygidium, which is clearly a ventral element in well-preserved, threedimensional trigonotarbids (e.g. Hirst 1923), is superimposed here onto the dorsal surface at the posterior end of the specimen.…”

Section: O R P H O L O G I C a L I N T E R P R E T A T I O Nmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…They are currently restricted to the famous Rhynie chert locality in Scotland (Hirst 1923;Hirst and Maulik 1926;Shear et al 1987), to various localities in the Rhenish Slate Mountains of Germany (Størmer 1970;Brauckmann 1987Brauckmann , 1994Schultka 1991;Dunlop and Poschmann 1997), of which Alken an der Mosel is the most famous, and to New Brunswick in Canada (Shear et al 1996). A number of additional localities have yielded early Devonian scorpions, although at least some of these taxa may have been aquatic (Selden and Jeram 1989).…”

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confidence: 99%

A trigonotarbid arachnid from the Lower Devonian of Tredomen, Wales

Dunlop¹,

Selden²

2004

Palaeontology

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ABSTRACT. A new trigonotarbid (Arachnida: Trigonotarbida) Arianrhoda bennetti gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Lower Devonian (Lochkovian) of a quarry near Tredomen, Powys, mid Wales, UK. This relatively complete specimen is the first record of a pre-Carboniferous arachnid from Wales, one of only a handful of early Devonian arachnids, and the second oldest trigonotarbid recorded. Based on the rounded prosomal dorsal shield and the relatively narrow, elongate opisthosoma we refer this new fossil to the family Anthracosironidae. A distinct flange-like ornament on the leg 4 tibia in the new fossil is unique among trigonotarbids and is the primary autapomorphy for the new genus.

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XLVI.—On some Arachnid remains from the Old Red Sandstone (Rhynie Chert Bed, Aberdeenshire)

Cited by 108 publications

References 0 publications

Anatomically modern Carboniferous harvestmen demonstrate early cladogenesis and stasis in Opiliones

Anatomically modern Carboniferous harvestmen demonstrate early cladogenesis and stasis in Opiliones

The fossil history of pseudoscorpions (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones)

A trigonotarbid arachnid from the Lower Devonian of Tredomen, Wales

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