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On the Emsian (Lower Devonian) arthropods of the Rhenish Schiefergebirge: 1.Xenarachne, an enigmatic arachnid from Willwerath, Germany

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Kurzfassung

Ein neuer fossiler Arachnide,Xenarachne willwerathensis n. gen., n. sp. aus den Klerf-Schichten (oberes Unter-Emsium, Unter-Devon) von Willwerath/Eifel wird beschrieben. Die Ausbildung einer beweglichen Verbindung zwischen Prosoma und Opisthosoma in Form eines Petiolus und das Vorhandensein eines Pygidiums erlauben die Zuordung zu den tetrapulmonaten Arachniden. Die ungewöhnliche Merkmalskombination erschwert die zweifelsfreie Zuweisung zu einer bestimmten Ordnung.Xenarachne wird zu den Tetrapulmonata incertae sedis gestellt und zeigt Übereinstimmungen mit Geißelspinnen (Amblypygi) einerseits und Webspinnen (Araneae) andererseits. Möglicherweise repräsentiertXenarachne einen sehr frühen Vertreter der Webspinnen. Es sind aber in der devonischen Arachniden-Fauna durchaus Formen zu erwarten, die sich nicht in die bekannten Ordnungen einfügen lassen. Die Eidonomie vonXenarachne wird in diesem Zusammenhang diskutiert.

Abstract

A new fossil arachnid,Xenarachne willwerathensis n. gen., n. sp. is described from the Lower Devonian (upper Lower Emsian) Klerf-beds of Willwerath, Germany. This intriguing fossil has a pedicel and pygidium, indicating that it belongs to the tetrapulmonate arachnids, but cannot be referred with confidence to any particular order. It is placed as Tetrapulmonata incertae sedis, though has similarities to whip spiders (Amblypygi) and spiders (Araneae).Xenarachne could even represent a very early spider, though the Devonian arachnid fauna could have included taxa which did not belong in any currently recognised order.Xenarachne may be an example of just such a fossil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Manchester, Ml3 9PL, Manchester, UK

    Jason A. Dunlop

  2. Bussardweg 5, 56075, Koblenz, Germany

    Markus Poschmann

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  1. Jason A. Dunlop
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  2. Markus Poschmann
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Dunlop, J.A., Poschmann, M. On the Emsian (Lower Devonian) arthropods of the Rhenish Schiefergebirge: 1.Xenarachne, an enigmatic arachnid from Willwerath, Germany. Paläontol Z 71, 231–236 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02988492

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02988492

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