Palaeopantopus maucheri is a Devonian sea spider from the Hunsrück Slate of Germany.[1][2]
Palaeopantopus Temporal range:
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Reconstruction of Palaeopantopus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Pycnogonida |
Genus: | †Palaeopantopus Broili, 1929 |
Species: | †P. maucheri
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Binomial name | |
†Palaeopantopus maucheri Broili, 1929
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Description
editPalaeopantopus is known from three specimens, one of which is slightly smaller and may represent a different sex or earlier life stage. The cephalon is very small (no evidence is known from any fossils), although all the cephalic appendages are still present. The proboscis is piriform and extends posteriorly, with an unusual elongate structure which may either be an oviger (with the proboscis folded under the body) or the continuation of the proboscis (in which case it would originate very posteriorly, at the third trunk segment). The chelifores are poorly preserved and seem to have no chelae, the clawless palps are also poorly preserved and thus their segmentation is unclear, and the ovigers have at least two broad podomeres and end in a claw. The trunk is broad and contains four segments, with very short lateral processes. The abdomen contains six elements corresponding to at least two segments, with a possible terminal anus. However, the pyritization used to claim this is also found in the ovigers and palps, therefore it likely does not represent the true extent of the gut, and the anus may not be terminal after all alongside the abdomen having a telson.[2] The walking legs have annular structures at their base which likely represent the first coxa, although Bergström et al. suggested they were lateral processes instead. [1] The first two podomeres after this are relatively short, with increasing length in proportion to width down to the seventh podomere. After this, distal podomeres are relatively hard to discern due to fragmentation, although at least two are recorded, with four more recorded from a hook-like structure at the tip (although the boundaries of the "podomeres" in this region may be taphonomic artifacts), which itself may be tipped with a claw.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Bergström, Jan; Stürmer, Wilhelm; Winter, Gerhard (June 1980). "Palaeoisopus, Palaeopantopus andPalaeothea, pycnogonid arthropods from the Lower Devonian Hunsriick Slate, West Germany". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 54 (1–2): 7–54. Bibcode:1980PalZ...54....7B. doi:10.1007/BF02985882.
- ^ a b c Sabroux, Romain; Garwood, Russell J.; Pisani, Davide; Donoghue, Philip C. J.; Edgecombe, Gregory D. (14 October 2024). "New insights into the Devonian sea spiders of the Hunsrück Slate (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida)". PeerJ. 12: e17766. doi:10.7717/peerj.17766.