First Palaeozoic arachnid from Portugal and implications for Carboniferous palaeobiogeography

Abstract

The first occurrence of arachnids (Aphantomartus pustulatus) in the Carboniferous strata of Portugal is documented and its palaeobiogeographic significance is assessed. The Aphantomartidae species are thought to be native to Central Europe where its oldest example is recorded in Middle–Upper Mississippian strata. Known occurrences are preserved along the flanks of mountains such as the Appalachian Mountains, the Cantabrian Mountains and the Valongo Anticline (Portugal, Iberian Massif) and provide clear evidence that the Aphantomartidae species probably lived in upland or mountainous environments. The Iberian Massif may have served as a ‘link’ between the migration routes of several terrestrial animals from North America and Eurasia, and this linkage constrains the palaeogeographic and palaeoenvironmental conditions in equatorial Pangaea during the Carboniferous and Early Permian. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Douropteris alvareziigen. nov., sp. nov., a new medullosalean pteridosperm from the Late Pennsylvanian of Portugal

“…lusitanica Correia et al, ) and Dictyoptera (blattodeans) insects; (l) Aphantomartus pustulatus Scudder. Modified from Correia et al (, figure 2)…”

“…The Douro Basin (Figure ) occurs within the Douro‐Beira Carboniferous Trough (DBCT) which is located within the Central Iberian Zone in the Iberian Massif of NW Portugal (e.g., Pinto de Jesus, ; Wagner & Lemos de Sousa, ). The Douro Basin strata are early Gzhelian (early Stephanian C) in age and represent continental intramontane syntectonic deposits occurring within a narrow range, with a width of less than 1 km tectonically induced by compressive stress, and showing 85 km length NW–SE‐striking lineament extending from São Pedro Fins (E Porto) to Janarde (E Arouca; e.g., Correia et al, ; Correia, Murphy, Sá, Domingos, & Flores, ; Correia, Šimůnek, Sá, & Flores, ; Domingos et al, ; Eagar, ; Fernandes, Pinto de Jesus, Teixeira, & Lemos de Sousa, ; Lemos de Sousa & Wagner, , ; Lemos de Sousa & Wagner, , ; Pinto de Jesus, , ; Wagner, ; Wagner & Lemos de Sousa, , ). These deposits comprise alluvial fan debris which are characterized by flow‐dominated sediment at the base, passing upwards into lacustrine–palustrine facies, overlain by strata deposited in a braided multistory–multichannel fluvial system (Pinto de Jesus, , ).…”

The youngest trigonotarbid <i>Permotarbus schuberti</i> n. gen., n. sp. from the Permian Petrified Forest of Chemnitz in Germany

“…Other German records from this regional substage include aphantomartids from Oelsnitz (Barthel & Raeßler 1998) (Ammon 1901) and Radvanice in the Czech Republic (Opluštil 1985). Aphantomartus was recorded by Selden and Romano (1983) from LeÕn Province in Spain, by Correia et al (2013) from Portugal, by Raeßler (1998) from the Saale Basin at Plaetz near Halle, Germany, and by Dunlop (1999b) from Montceau-les-Mines in France. In a conference abstract Eskov (1998) noted further trigonotarbids from the Kasimovian stage, at least one eophrynid from Chunya in the Tunguska Basin and one aphantomartid from Zheltyi Yar in the Kuznetsk Basin (both Russia).…”

The youngest trigonotarbidPermotarbus schubertin. gen., n. sp. from the Permian Petrified Forest of Chemnitz in Germany

“…Petrunkevitch 1955) and examples of Anthracomartus from near Brçcken in Germany (Ammon 1901) and Radvanice in the Czech Republic (Opluštil 1985). Aphantomartus was recorded by Selden and Romano (1983) from LeÕn Province in Spain, by Correia et al (2013) from Portugal, by Raeßler (1998) from the Saale Basin at Plaetz near Halle, Germany, and by Dunlop (1999b) from Montceau-les-Mines in France. In a conference abstract Eskov (1998) noted further trigonotarbids from the Kasimovian stage, at least one eophrynid from Chunya in the Tunguska Basin and one aphantomartid from Zheltyi Yar in the Kuznetsk Basin (both Russia).…”

“…330 Ma) of the Erzgebirge Basin of Chemnitz in Germany and Kamienna Gora (Intrasudetic Basin) in Poland. Both could be assigned to Aphantomartus Pocock, 1911 (Aphantomartidae) and represent the youngest record of this important, and long-lived genus (see also Correia et al 2013) which can be traced right through into the Permian (Fig. 5).…”