Sir David Frederick Attenborough is a British broadcaster, biologist, natural historian, and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature documentary series forming the Life collection, a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on Earth.
The Atlantic horseshoe crab, also known as the American horseshoe crab, is a species of horseshoe crab, a kind of marine and brackish chelicerate arthropod. It is found in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic coast of North America. The main area of annual migration is Delaware Bay along the South Jersey Delaware Bayshore.
Sidneyia is an extinct arthropod known from fossils found from the Early to the Mid Cambrian of China and the Mid Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada.
Horseshoe crabs are arthropods of the family Limulidae and are the only surviving xiphosurans. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans. Rather, they are chelicerates. This makes them more closely related to arachnids like spiders, ticks, and scorpions. The body of a horseshoe crab is divided into three main parts: the cephalothorax, abdomen, and telson. The largest of these, the cephalothorax, houses most of the animal's eyes, limbs, and internal organs. It is also where the animal gets its name, as its shape somewhat resembles that of a horseshoe. Horseshoe crabs have changed little in appearance since they first evolved in the Triassic, earning them the title of "living fossil".
Xiphosura is an order of arthropods related to arachnids. They are more commonly known as horseshoe crabs. They first appeared in the Hirnantian. Currently, there are only four living species. Xiphosura contains one suborder, Xiphosurida, and several stem-genera.
The Lopingian is the uppermost series/last epoch of the Permian. It is the last epoch of the Paleozoic. The Lopingian was preceded by the Guadalupian and followed by the Early Triassic.
Mesolimulus is an extinct genus of horseshoe crab. The best known examples are found in Solnhofen limestone near Solnhofen, Bavaria, Germany. Originally assigned to the living genus Limulus, they are related to and look virtually identical to modern horseshoe crabs. Other species assigned to Mesolimulus have been recorded spanning over 140 million years from the Middle Triassic to Late Cretaceous from England, Spain, Siberia and Morocco.
Willwerathia is a genus of Devonian arthropod. It is sometimes classified as synziphosurine, a paraphyletic group of horseshoe crab-like fossil chelicerate arthropods, while some studies compare its morphology to an artiopod. Willwerathia known only by one species, Willwerathia laticeps, discovered in deposits of the Devonian period from the Klerf Formation, in the Rhenish Slate Mountains of Germany.
Bunodes is a genus of synziphosurine, a paraphyletic group of fossil chelicerate arthropods. Bunodes was regarded as part of the clade Planaterga. Fossils of the single and type species, B. lunula, have been discovered in deposits of the Silurian period in Ludlow, England. Bunodes is the type genus of the family Bunodidae, the other genera of the same family being Limuloides. There are 64 direct children of Bunodes.
Cyamocephalus is a genus of synziphosurine, a paraphyletic group of fossil chelicerate arthropods. Cyamocephalus was regarded as part of the clade Planaterga. Fossils of the single and type species, C. loganensis, have been discovered in deposits of the Silurian-aged Patrick Burn Formation in Lesmahagow, Scotland. Cyamocephalus is one of the two members of the family Pseudoniscidae, the other being Pseudoniscus. Cyamocephalus differ from Pseudoniscus by the fused tergites of 6th and 7th opisthosomal segments.
Legrandella is a genus of synziphosurine, a paraphyletic group of fossil chelicerate arthropods. Legrandella was regarded as part of the clade Prosomapoda. Fossils of the single and type species, L. lombardii, have been discovered in deposits of the Devonian period in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Pasternakevia is a genus of synziphosurine, a paraphyletic group of fossil chelicerate arthropods. Pasternakevia was regarded as part of the clade Planaterga. Fossils of the single and type species, P. podolica, have been discovered in deposits of the Silurian period in Podolia, Ukraine.
Pseudoniscus is a genus of synziphosurine, a paraphyletic group of fossil chelicerate arthropods. Pseudoniscus was regarded as part of the clade Planaterga. Fossils of the genus have been discovered in deposits of the Silurian period in the United Kingdom, the United States and Estonia. Pseudoniscus is one of the two members of the family Pseudoniscidae, the other being Cyamocephalus.
Synziphosurina is a paraphyletic group of chelicerate arthropods previously thought to be basal horseshoe crabs (Xiphosura). It was later identified as a grade composed of various basal euchelicerates, eventually excluded from the monophyletic Xiphosura sensu stricto and only regarded as horseshoe crabs under a broader sense. Synziphosurines survived at least since early Ordovician to early Carboniferous in ages, with most species are known from the in-between Silurian strata.
Austrolimulidae is an extinct family of horseshoe crabs belonging to the infraorder Limulina. Members of the family are known from the Permian to the beginning of the Jurassic, though one species has been reported from the end of the Cretaceous. Austrolimulids are known for amongst the most extreme morphologies among Xiphosurids, including large elongated genal spines. Unlike living Limulids, Austrolimulids were likely adapted for freshwater and brackish environments. They are considered to be the sister group to Limulidae, the group that contains all modern horseshoe crabs.
Microleo attenboroughi is a very small species of the Thylacoleonidae family of marsupials from the Early Miocene of Australia, living in the wet forest that dominated Riversleigh about 18 million years ago. The genus Microleo is currently known from a broken palate and two pieces of jaw, containing some teeth and roots that correspond to those found in other species of thylacoleonids. The shape and structure of the blade-like P3 tooth, a premolar, distinguished the species as a new genus. It was found in Early Miocene-aged deposits of the Riversleigh fossil site in Queensland, regarded as one of the most significant palaeontological sites yet discovered, and named for the naturalist David Attenborough in appreciation of his support for its heritage listing. The anatomy of Microleo suggests the genus is basal to all the known thylacoleonids, known as the marsupial lions, although its relative size prompted one discoverer to describe it as the "feisty" kitten of the family.
This list of fossil arthropods described in 2019 is a list of new taxa of trilobites, fossil insects, crustaceans, arachnids and other fossil arthropods of every kind that are scheduled to be described during the year 2019, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to arthropod paleontology that are scheduled to occur in the year 2019.
Maldybulakia is a genus of freshwater arthropod which lived during Late Silurian to Late Devonian. Maldybulakia is known from three species, M. angusi and M. malcolmi from Australia, M. mirabilis from Kazakhstan, and M. saierensis from China. Its classification is uncertain, it was originally described as a myriapod-like animal, and later considered related to the xiphosurans, or an artiopod.
Vaderlimulus is a genus of horseshoe crab. The species V. tricki lived in the Olenekian age Triassic period approximately 245 million years ago North America, Idaho. The genus was named after a Star Wars character Darth Vader due to the animal's oversized head shield resembling Darth Vader’s helmet. The specific epithet "tricki" named in recognition of Trick Runions who discovered V. tricki. Vaderlimulus tricki is known as the first Triassic horseshoe crab from North America. Vaderlimulus was 10 centimeters in length.
