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On the Emsian (Lower Devonian) arthropods of the Rhenish Slate Mountains: 2. The synziphosurineWillwerathia

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Kurzfassung

Die ursprünglich als Eurypteride beschriebeneWillwerathia laticeps (Størmer 1936) wird nunmehr als Angehörige der Synziphosurina erkannt und der Familie WeinberginidaeRichter &Richter 1929 zugeordnet. Unter Berücksichtigung aller erhältlichen Daten läßt sich an neu aufgesammeltem, zumeist disartikuliertem Material von der Lokalität, aus der der verschollene Holotypus stammt, darauf schließen, daß das Opisthosoma vonWillwerathia zehn Tergite umfaßte. Mit einer Carapax-Breite von etwa 90 mm warWillwerathia laticeps die größte bisher bekannte Synziphosurinen-Art. Das gemeinsame Vorkommen von Synziphosurinen und Eurypteriden bestätigt die Erkenntnisse über bereits früher beschriebene Taphozönosen.

Abstract

Willwerathia laticeps (Størmer 1936) originally described as a eurypterid is reinterpreted as a synziphosurine belonging to Family WeinberginidaeRichter &Richter 1929. Recently collected material from the locality, from which the destroyed holotype comes, suggests thatWillwerathia possessed ten opisthosomal tergites, deduced from all available arrays of disarticulates.Willwerathia is the largest synziphosurine yet discovered with a carapace approximately 90 mm across. The occurrence of synziphosurines with eurypterids mirrors previously described preservational associations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, Meston Building, King’s College, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, Scotland

    Lyall I. Anderson

  2. Bussardweg 5, D-56075, Koblenz, Germany

    Markus Poschmann

  3. Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, Technische Universität Clausthal, Leibnizstraße 10, D-38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany

    Carsten Brauckmann

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  1. Lyall I. Anderson
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  2. Markus Poschmann
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Anderson, L.I., Poschmann, M. & Brauckmann, C. On the Emsian (Lower Devonian) arthropods of the Rhenish Slate Mountains: 2. The synziphosurineWillwerathia . Paläontol Z 72, 325–336 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02988363

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