An enigmatic spiny harvestman from Baltic amber

Dunlop, Jason A.; Bartel, Christian; Mitov, Plamen

doi:10.1002/mmng.201200007

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Though this has been cited as a diagnostic characteristic of the group (e.g. Dunlop and Mammitzsch 2010), many species also exhibit minor males with chelicerae that are less exaggerated than those of majors (Taylor and Hunt 2009). For a number of species of Megalopsalis ( Megalopsalis coronata , Megalopsalis puerilis , Megalopsalis sublucens , Megalopsalis tanisphyros and Megalopsalis walpolensis ), the males appear to lack enlarged chelicerae (Taylor 2011 and below), though the possibility cannot be excluded that major males of these species remain to be discovered.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Further revision of the genus Megalopsalis (Opiliones, Neopilionidae), with the description of seven new species

Taylor¹

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Australian harvestmen genus Megalopsalis (Neopilionidae: Enantiobuninae) is recognised as a senior synonym of the genera Spinicrus and Hypomegalopsalis, and seven new species are described in Megalopsalis: Megalopsalis suffugiens, Megalopsalis walpolensis, Megalopsalis caeruleomontium, Megalopsalis atrocidiana, Megalopsalis coronata, Megalopsalis puerilis and Megalopsalis sublucens. A morphological phylogenetic analysis of the Enantiobuninae is also conducted including the new species. Monophyly of Neopilionidae and Enantiobuninae including ‘Monoscutidae’ is corroborated, with the Australasian taxa as a possible sister clade to the South American Thrasychirus.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Further revision of the genus Megalopsalis (Opiliones, Neopilionidae), with the description of seven new species

Taylor¹

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Penis morphology in a Burmese amber harvestman

Dunlop

Selden

Giribet

2016

Sci Nat

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A unique specimen of the fossil harvestman Halitherses grimaldii Giribet and Dunlop, 2005 (Arachnida: Opiliones) from the Cretaceous (ca. 99 Ma) Burmese amber of Myanmar reveals a fully extended penis. This is the first record of a male copulatory organ of this nature preserved in amber and is of special importance due to the age of the deposit. The penis has a slender, distally flattened truncus, a spatulate heart-shaped glans and a short distal stylus, twisted at the tip. In living harvestmen, the penis yields crucial characters for their systematics. Male genital morphology in H. grimaldii appears to be unique among the wider Dyspnoi clade to which this fossil belongs. The large eyes in the fossil differ markedly from other members of the subfamily Ortholasmatinae to which H. grimaldii was originally referred. Based on recent data, it has been argued that large eyes may be plesiomorphic for Palpatores (i.e. the suborders Eupnoi and Dyspnoi), potentially rendering this character plesiomorphic for the fossil too. Thus, the unique structure of the penis seen here, and the probable lack of diaphanous teeth, present in all other extant non-acropsopilionid Dyspnoi, suggest that H. grimaldii represents a new, extinct family of large-eyed dyspnoid harvestmen, Halithersidae fam. nov.; a higher taxon in amber diagnosed here on both somatic and genital characters.

show abstract

The harvestman genus Taracus Simon 1879, and the new genus Oskoron (Opiliones: Ischyropsalidoidea: Taracidae)

Shear

Warfel

2016

Zootaxa

856

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ischyropsalidoid genus Taracus Simon 1879 is reviewed and all previously named species are redescribed. Taracus nigripes Goodnight & Goodnight, 1943 is synonymized with T. packardi Simon 1879, and T. malkini Goodnight & Goodnight 1945 with Oskoron spinosus (Banks) 1894; the type locality of T. gertschi Goodnight & Goodnight 1942 is corrected from "eastern Oregon" to Rose Lake, Idaho, based on original labelling. The following new species of Taracus are described: T. carmanah (Vancouver Island), T. marchingtoni (Oregon), T. taylori, T. spesavius (both Nevada), T. timpanogos (Utah), T. audisioae, T. ubicki, and T. fluvipileus (all California). A new genus Oskoron is based upon O. spinosus (Banks) 1894, originally described in Taracus, and also includes two new species, O. brevichelis (Oregon, Washington) and O. crawfordi (Washington). New locality records extend the known distribution of Taracus to the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia and the US states of Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico. Schönhofer's (2013) proposal of a family Taracidae for Taracus, Hesperonemastoma Gruber 1970 and Crosbycus Roewer 1914 is discussed.

show abstract

An enigmatic spiny harvestman from Baltic amber

Cited by 3 publications

References 16 publications

Further revision of the genus Megalopsalis (Opiliones, Neopilionidae), with the description of seven new species

Further revision of the genus Megalopsalis (Opiliones, Neopilionidae), with the description of seven new species

Penis morphology in a Burmese amber harvestman

The harvestman genus Taracus Simon 1879, and the new genus Oskoron (Opiliones: Ischyropsalidoidea: Taracidae)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About