A brand new species of prehistoric arachnid has been named and described from the well-known Mazon Creek fossil web site in Illinois, USA.  The brand new species has been named Douglassarachne acanthopoda.  The fossils are believed to be round 308 million years outdated.  D. acanthopoda is characterised by its remarkably sturdy and spiny legs.  Its look is strikingly totally different from all different dwelling or extinct arachnids.  The preserved character mixture examined by the researchers doesn’t allow straightforward referral to any identified arachnid, dwelling or extinct.  Thus, the brand new fossil in positioned as Arachnida, within the clade Tetrapulmonata.  The Tetrapulmonata consists of the whip scorpions and the true spiders.

Douglassarachne acanthopoda fossil.

Douglassarachne acanthopoda fossil. A weird, Late Carboniferous arachnid. Image credit score: Professor Paul Selden.

Image credit score: Professor Paul Selden

A Weird Arachnid with Spiny Legs – Douglassarachne acanthopoda

This new Carboniferous invertebrate has been described in a scientific paper revealed within the “Journal of Paleontology”.  Researchers Jason Dunlop from the Museum of Pure Historical past, Berlin and Paul Selden (College of Kansas/London Pure Historical past Museum), wrote the paper.

In the course of the Carboniferous, many several types of arachnids advanced.  These included varieties that we’re acquainted with at the moment, such because the true spiders, harvestmen and scorpions. There have been additionally many unique animals that at the moment are confined primarily to the tropics. Animals just like the whip spiders and whip scorpions.  The fossil file means that within the coal forests, true spiders had been fairly uncommon.  Amongst these had been primitive varieties and different lineages that haven’t any dwelling descendants.

To learn a current article in regards to the discovery of the oldest harvestmen from Germany: The Oldest Harvestmen from Germany are Scientifically Described

Preserved Inside a Clay-Ironstone Nodule

The Mazon Creek web site is legendary for its exceptional fossils.  It preserves the wildlife of a Late Carboniferous tropical forest.  The ecosystem was very totally different to trendy ecosystems.  The Douglassarachne acanthopoda specimen (quantity FMNH PE 91366), was found within the Eighties by Bob Masek in a clay-ironstone concretion. Bob deployed a typical methodology for splitting the concretion.  He positioned the nodule outdoors immersed water all through the winter.  The chilly and frost penetrated pure fissures within the concretion alongside the aircraft containing the fossil.  After the climate had completed its work, a blow from a geology hammer was sufficient to separate the nodule and reveal the fossil.

The specimen was acquired by David Douglass and was displayed on the Douglass household’s Prehistoric Life Museum.  The fossil was donated to the Area Museum of Pure Historical past in Chicago in 2023 so it could possibly be studied.

The physique of the D. acanthopoda measures 15.4 mm in size.  The extraordinarily spiny legs in all probability advanced to discourage predators. While it would superficially resemble an extant harvestman or mite, it differs considerably from any extant harvestman or every other identified arachnid group.  Sadly, the mouthparts (chelicerae) are usually not preserved.  This makes classification troublesome.  Douglassarachne has bene tentatively assigned to the Tetrapulmonata clade.  This clade contains the true spiders, whip spiders and whip scorpions.

Various Arachnids

While is it not potential to find out the precise evolutionary relationship of Douglassarachne acanthopoda, it’s famous that in the course of the Carboniferous a various number of arachnids advanced.  A few of these households later died out.  Many varieties grew to become extinct in the course of the so-called “Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse” when world local weather change led to the decline of the coal forests.

Every little thing Dinosaur acknowledges the help of a media launch from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin within the compilation of this text.

The scientific paper: “A exceptional spiny arachnid from the Pennsylvanian Mazon Creek Lagerstätte, Illinois” by Selden, P. A. and Dunlop, J.A. revealed within the Journal of Paleontology.

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