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Type: Article
Published: 2014-12-11
Page range: 161–168
Abstract views: 37
PDF downloaded: 1

The first fossil spider (Araneae: Palpimanoidea) from the Lower Jurassic (Grimmen, Germany)

Paleontological Institute and Department of Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA Natural History Museum, London, UK;
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, D-10115 Berlin, Germany;
Fossil-Lagerstätte Lias Mesozoic Seppo koponeni new genus new species

Abstract

The first Lower Jurassic (Lias) spider is described as Seppo koponeni n. gen. & n. sp. from a single female specimen from Grimmen, Germany. It most likely belongs to the Palpimanoidea, on account of the presence of cheliceral peg teeth and other features consistent with palpimanoid families, though its familial placement is uncertain. Its presence in the region at that time concurs with ideas about the more widespread presence of palpimanoids across the world in the early Mesozoic, before the break-up of Pangaea.