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The Oldest Species of the Genus Limulus from the Late Jurassic of Poland

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Changing Global Perspectives on Horseshoe Crab Biology, Conservation and Management

Abstract

This paper describes the discovery of new, exceptionally well preserved Late Jurassic (Late Tithonian) horseshoe crabs belonging to the genus Limulus, which are considered to be the oldest known representatives of the genus. The three-dimensionally preserved fossil horseshoe crabs, belonging to two species: Limulus darwini and Crenatolimulus sp. nov., recently were discovered in the Owadów-Brzezinki Quarry in Central Poland. The state of preservation of the fossil horseshoe crabs is described and the evolutionary lineage of both extinct and extant limulids is discussed. The palaeoenvironment inhabited by the new species and the trophic relationships of living horseshoe crabs are investigated in an attempt to determine the potential relationships between Mesozoic and recent xiphosurans.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to sincerely thank Peter Walsh (University of Silesia) for many useful suggestions and correction of English. I appreciate the help provided in the field of Robert Siuda (Owadów-Brzezinki Quarry, Nordkalk Company). And last but not least, I wish to acknowledge Kevin Laurie (independent horseshoe crab researcher, Hong Kong), Mark Botton (Department of Natural Sciences, Fordham College at Lincoln Center, New York) and one anonymous reviewer for his critical review and very helpful comments that improved the manuscript. This work was supported by the Polish National Science Centre (grant no.2012/07/B/ST10/04175).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Paleobiology, Twarda 51/55, 00-818, Warsaw, Poland

    Błażej Błażejowski

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  1. Błażej Błażejowski
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Correspondence to Błażej Błażejowski .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dauphin Island Sea Lab, University of South Alabama, Dauphin Island, Alabama, USA

    Ruth H. Carmichael

  2. Fordham University Dept. Natural Sciences, New York, New York, USA

    Mark L. Botton

  3. Department of Biology and Chemistry,, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Paul K.S. Shin

  4. Department of Biology and Chemistry,, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Siu Gin Cheung

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Błażejowski, B. (2015). The Oldest Species of the Genus Limulus from the Late Jurassic of Poland. In: Carmichael, R., Botton, M., Shin, P., Cheung, S. (eds) Changing Global Perspectives on Horseshoe Crab Biology, Conservation and Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19542-1_1

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