Palaeophonus

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Palaeophonus
Temporal range: Wenlock–Early Devonian
PSM V27 D413 Fossil scorpion.jpg
Fossil illustration of Palaeophonus nuncius
Scorpiones - Palaeophonus nuncius.JPG
Restoration model
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Scorpiones
Suborder: Lobosternina
Superfamily: Palaeophonoidea
Thorell & Lindström, 1884
Family: Palaeophonidae
Thorell & Lindström, 1884
Genus: Palaeophonus
Thorell & Lindström, 1884
Type species
Palaeophonus nuncius

Palaeophonus (meaning "ancient killer") is one of the oldest known genera of scorpions. [2]

Contents

Fossil records

This genus has been reported in the fossil record from the Silurian to the Carboniferous (age range: 428.2 to 314.6 million years ago). Fossils were described from Europe, the United States, and Canada. [3] However revision by Dunlop & Garwood (2023) demonstrated that Allopalaeophonus is a junior synonym of Palaeophonus and that there are only two valid species, P. nuncius Thorell and Lindström 1884 from Sweden and P. caledonicus Hunter, 1886 from Scotland. The species P. arctus Matthew, 1894 from the Carboniferous of Canada and P. lightbodyi Kjellesvig-Waering 1954 from the Silurian of England are nomina dubia. [4]

Description

1911 Britannica-Arachnida-Palaeophonus nuncius.png
1911 Britannica-Arachnida-Palaeophonus Hunteri.png
Reconstruction of P. nuncius in dorsal view and P. caledonicus in ventral view

Palaeophonus resembles modern scorpions, but differs in having short, pointed legs, as opposed to longer legs ending in a pair of claws. It grew to a lengths of 2.5–3.5 in (64–89 mm). [5] These animals did not have eyes and therefore they were blind. [6]

Palaeophonus seems to have been terrestrial. [7] [8]

Species

Species within this genus include: [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelicerata</span> Subphylum of arthropods

The subphylum Chelicerata constitutes one of the major subdivisions of the phylum Arthropoda. Chelicerates include the sea spiders, horseshoe crabs, and arachnids, as well as a number of extinct lineages, such as the eurypterids and chasmataspidids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opiliones</span> Order of arachnids

The Opiliones are an order of arachnids, colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs. As of July 2024, over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the total number of extant species may exceed 10,000. The order Opiliones includes five suborders: Cyphophthalmi, Eupnoi, Dyspnoi, Laniatores, and Tetrophthalmi, which were named in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uropygi</span> Order of arachnids known as whip scorpions

Uropygi is an arachnid order comprising invertebrates commonly known as whip scorpions or vinegaroons. They are often called uropygids. The name "whip scorpion" refers to their resemblance to true scorpions and possession of a whiplike tail, and "vinegaroon" refers to their ability when attacked to discharge an offensive, vinegar-smelling liquid, which contains acetic acid. The order may also be called Thelyphonida. Both names, Uropygi and Thelyphonida, may be used either in a narrow sense for the order of whip scorpions, or in a broad sense which includes the order Schizomida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurypterid</span> Order of arthropods (fossil)

Eurypterids, often informally called sea scorpions, are a group of extinct arthropods that form the order Eurypterida. The earliest known eurypterids date to the Darriwilian stage of the Ordovician period 467.3 million years ago. The group is likely to have appeared first either during the Early Ordovician or Late Cambrian period. With approximately 250 species, the Eurypterida is the most diverse Paleozoic chelicerate order. Following their appearance during the Ordovician, eurypterids became major components of marine faunas during the Silurian, from which the majority of eurypterid species have been described. The Silurian genus Eurypterus accounts for more than 90% of all known eurypterid specimens. Though the group continued to diversify during the subsequent Devonian period, the eurypterids were heavily affected by the Late Devonian extinction event. They declined in numbers and diversity until becoming extinct during the Permian–Triassic extinction event 251.9 million years ago.

<i>Hibbertopterus</i> Extinct genus of arthropods

Hibbertopterus is a genus of eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Hibbertopterus have been discovered in deposits ranging from the Devonian period in Belgium, Scotland and the United States to the Carboniferous period in Scotland, Ireland, the Czech Republic and South Africa. The type species, H. scouleri, was first named as a species of the significantly different Eurypterus by Samuel Hibbert in 1836. The generic name Hibbertopterus, coined more than a century later, combines his name and the Greek word πτερόν (pteron) meaning "wing".

<i>Plesiosiro</i> Extinct genus of arachnids

Plesiosiro is an extinct arachnid genus known exclusively from nine specimens from the Upper Carboniferous of Coseley, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. The genus is monotypic, represented only by the species Plesiosiro madeleyi described by Reginald Innes Pocock in his important 1911 monograph on British Carboniferous arachnids. It is the only known member of the order Haptopoda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trigonotarbida</span> Extinct order of arachnids

The order Trigonotarbida is a group of extinct arachnids whose fossil record extends from the late Silurian to the early Permian. These animals are known from several localities in Europe and North America, as well as a single record from Argentina. Trigonotarbids can be envisaged as spider-like arachnids, but without silk-producing spinnerets. They ranged in size from a few millimetres to a few centimetres in body length and had segmented abdomens (opisthosoma), with the dorsal exoskeleton (tergites) across the backs of the animals' abdomens, which were characteristically divided into three or five separate plates. Probably living as predators on other arthropods, some later trigonotarbid species were quite heavily armoured and protected themselves with spines and tubercles. About seventy species are currently known, with most fossils originating from the Carboniferous coal measures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetrapulmonata</span> Clade of arachnids

Tetrapulmonata is a non-ranked supra-ordinal clade of arachnids. It is composed of the extant orders Uropygi, Schizomida, Amblypygi and Araneae (spiders). It is the only supra-ordinal group of arachnids that is strongly supported in molecular phylogenetic studies. Two extinct orders are also placed in this clade, Haptopoda and Uraraneida. In 2016, a newly described fossil arachnid, Idmonarachne, was also included in the Tetrapulmonata; as of March 2016 it has not been assigned to an order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution of spiders</span> Origin from a chelicerate ancestor and diversification of spiders through geologic time

Spiders have been evolving for at least 380 million years. The group's origins lie within an arachnid sub-group defined by the presence of book lungs ; the arachnids as a whole evolved from aquatic chelicerate ancestors. More than 45,000 extant species have been described, organised taxonomically in 3,958 genera and 114 families. There may be more than 120,000 species. Fossil diversity rates make up a larger proportion than extant diversity would suggest with 1,593 arachnid species described out of 1,952 recognized chelicerates. Both extant and fossil species are described annually by researchers in the field. Major developments in spider evolution include the development of spinnerets and silk secretion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvestman phylogeny</span> Order of arachnids

Harvestmen (Opiliones) are an order of arachnids often confused with spiders, though the two orders are not closely related. Research on harvestman phylogeny is in a state of flux. While some families are clearly monophyletic, that is share a common ancestor, others are not, and the relationships between families are often not well understood.

<i>Drepanopterus</i> Extinct genus of sea scorpions

Drepanopterus is an extinct genus of eurypterid and the only member of the family Drepanopteridae within the Mycteropoidea superfamily. There are currently three species assigned to the genus. The genus has historically included more species, with nine species having been associated with the genus Drepanopterus. Five of these have since been proven to be synonyms of pre-existing species, assigned to their own genera, or found to be based on insubstantial fossil data. The holotype of one species proved to be a lithic clast.

<i>Adelophthalmus</i> Genus of arthropods (fossil)

Adelophthalmus is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Adelophthalmus have been discovered in deposits ranging in age from the Early Devonian to the Early Permian, which makes it the longest lived of all known eurypterid genera, with a total temporal range of over 120 million years. Adelopththalmus was the final genus of the Eurypterina suborder of eurypterids and consisted the only known genus of swimming eurypterids from the Middle Devonian until its extinction during the Permian, after which the few surviving eurypterids were all walking forms of the suborder Stylonurina.

<i>Anthracomartus</i> Extinct genus of arachnid

Anthracomartus is an extinct genus of Carboniferous-aged trigonotarbid arachnids. A fossil of the species Anthracomartus hindi was found to be 23 millimetres (0.91 in) long and 14 millimetres (0.55 in) wide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adelophthalmidae</span> Family of eurypterids

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<i>Vernonopterus</i> Extinct genus of arthropods

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of eurypterid research</span>

This timeline of eurypterid research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, and taxonomic revisions of eurypterids, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods closely related to modern arachnids and horseshoe crabs that lived during the Paleozoic Era.

<i>Dibasterium</i> Extinct genus of arthropods

Dibasterium is an extinct genus of euchelicerate, a group of chelicerate arthropods. Fossils of the single and type species, D. durgae, have been discovered in the Coalbrookdale Formation of the Middle Silurian period in Herefordshire, England. The name of the genus is derived from the Latin words dibamos and mysterium ("mystery"), meaning "mystery on two legs" and referring to its prosomal limbs. The species name durgae comes from Durga, a Hindu goddess with many arms.

<i>Weygoldtina</i> Extinct genus of whip scorpions

Weygoldtina is an extinct genus of tailless whip scorpion known from Carboniferous period, and the only known member of the family Weygoldtinidae. It is known from two species described from North America and England and originally described in the genus Graeophonus, which is now considered a nomen dubium.

2023 in arthropod paleontology is a list of new arthropod fossil taxa, including arachnids, crustaceans, trilobites, and other arthropods that were announced or described, as well as other significant arthropod paleontological discoveries and events which occurred in 2023.

References

  1. Laurie, M. (2012). "XIX.—On a Silurian Scorpion and some additional Eurypterid Remains from the Pentland Hills". Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 39 (3): 575–590. doi:10.1017/S0080456800035109. S2CID   163565981.
  2. 1 2 Dunlop, J. A. (2010). "Geological history and phylogeny of Chelicerata". Arthropod Structure & Development. 39 (2–3): 124–142. Bibcode:2010ArtSD..39..124D. doi:10.1016/j.asd.2010.01.003. PMID   20093195.
  3. 1 2 Paleobiology Database
  4. Dunlop, J. A.; Garwood, R. J. (2023). "The status of two fossils assigned to the scorpion genus Palaeophonus and its interpretation as a senior synonym of Allopalaeophonus". Arachnology. 19 (6): 940–943. doi:10.13156/arac.2023.19.6.940.
  5. G. A. Polis The Biology of scorpions
  6. The Eurypterida of New York Volume 1.pdf/408
  7. Gess, R. W. (2013). "The Earliest Record of Terrestrial Animals in Gondwana: a Scorpion from the Famennian (Late Devonian) Witpoort Formation of South Africa". African Invertebrates . 54 (2): 373–379. Bibcode:2013AfrIn..54..373G. doi: 10.5733/afin.054.0206 .
  8. Alexander Petrunkevitch, 1953, Paleozoic and Mesozoic Arachnida of Europe