Spinning with the dinosaurs: the fossil record of spiders up in the mythology of many human socie... more Spinning with the dinosaurs: the fossil record of spiders up in the mythology of many human societies, commonly as symbols of danger or of clever handiwork. With the exception of Antarctica, they abound in every terrestrial ecosystem (and in some aquatic ones).
Amber, fossilized tree resin, is a well-known Fossil- Lagerstätte (an exceptional occurrence of w... more Amber, fossilized tree resin, is a well-known Fossil- Lagerstätte (an exceptional occurrence of well-preserved fossil biota). Living animals become trapped in the sticky resin when it is exuded by the tree and subsequently engulfed by more resin (eg Penney 2002), which hardens in contact with the air. Reasons for trees to exude resin are not well known and may be related to wound repair, but many insects, and therefore their predators, are attracted to resin seeps. Following burial in sediment, diagenetic processes turn the resin into the fossilized amber.
... a , David Penney c , Richard F. Preziosi c & C. Philip Wh... more ... a , David Penney c , Richard F. Preziosi c & C. Philip Wheater a pages 179-190. ... Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education , 30: 1934. [Taylor & Francis Online] View all references) and coaching (Schelfout et al. 200426. Schelfout, W., Dochy, F. and Janssens, S. 2004. ...
We apply Very-High-Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography (VHR-CT) to a minute fossil spider (~1 mm... more We apply Very-High-Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography (VHR-CT) to a minute fossil spider (~1 mm long) from Eocene amber of the Paris Basin, France. We demonstrate that the newly described genus and species of Micropholcom- matidae, Cenotextricella simoni, retains excellent details of the somatic and male pedipalpal morphology that allows unqualified comparison with extant species. Thus, in addition to calibrating the
... Grismado, CJ and MJ Ramírez. 2000. Notes on the spider genus Misionella with a description of... more ... Grismado, CJ and MJ Ramírez. 2000. Notes on the spider genus Misionella with a description of a new species from Brazil (Araneae: Filistatidae). Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment 35:161163. CrossRef. Hentz, NM 1842. ...
Computed tomography (CT) methods were applied to a problematic fossil spider (Arachnida: Araneae)... more Computed tomography (CT) methods were applied to a problematic fossil spider (Arachnida: Araneae) from the historical Berendt collection of Eocene (ca. 44–49 Ma) Baltic amber. The original specimens of Ocypete crassipes Koch and Berendt 1854 are in dark, oxidised amber and the published descriptions lack detail. Despite this, they were subsequently assigned to the living Pantropical genus Heteropoda Latreille, 1804 and are ostensibly the oldest records of huntsman spiders (Sparassidae) in general. Given their normally large size, and presumptive ability to free themselves more easily from resin, it would be surprising to find a sparassid in amber and traditional (optical) methods of study would likely have left O. crassipes as an equivocal record—probably a nomen dubium. However, phase contrast enhanced X-ray CT revealed exquisite morphological detail and thus ‘saved’ this historical name by revealing characters which confirm that it's a bona fide member both of Sparassidae and the subfamily Eusparassinae. We demonstrate here that CT studies facilitate taxonomic equivalence even between recent spiders and unpromising fossils described in older monographs. In our case, fine structural details such as eye arrangement, cheliceral dentition, and leg characters like a trilobate membrane, spination and claws, allow a precise referral of this fossil to an extant genus as Eusparassus crassipes (Koch and Berendt 1854) comb. nov.
Spinning with the dinosaurs: the fossil record of spiders up in the mythology of many human socie... more Spinning with the dinosaurs: the fossil record of spiders up in the mythology of many human societies, commonly as symbols of danger or of clever handiwork. With the exception of Antarctica, they abound in every terrestrial ecosystem (and in some aquatic ones).
Amber, fossilized tree resin, is a well-known Fossil- Lagerstätte (an exceptional occurrence of w... more Amber, fossilized tree resin, is a well-known Fossil- Lagerstätte (an exceptional occurrence of well-preserved fossil biota). Living animals become trapped in the sticky resin when it is exuded by the tree and subsequently engulfed by more resin (eg Penney 2002), which hardens in contact with the air. Reasons for trees to exude resin are not well known and may be related to wound repair, but many insects, and therefore their predators, are attracted to resin seeps. Following burial in sediment, diagenetic processes turn the resin into the fossilized amber.
... a , David Penney c , Richard F. Preziosi c & C. Philip Wh... more ... a , David Penney c , Richard F. Preziosi c & C. Philip Wheater a pages 179-190. ... Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education , 30: 1934. [Taylor & Francis Online] View all references) and coaching (Schelfout et al. 200426. Schelfout, W., Dochy, F. and Janssens, S. 2004. ...
We apply Very-High-Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography (VHR-CT) to a minute fossil spider (~1 mm... more We apply Very-High-Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography (VHR-CT) to a minute fossil spider (~1 mm long) from Eocene amber of the Paris Basin, France. We demonstrate that the newly described genus and species of Micropholcom- matidae, Cenotextricella simoni, retains excellent details of the somatic and male pedipalpal morphology that allows unqualified comparison with extant species. Thus, in addition to calibrating the
... Grismado, CJ and MJ Ramírez. 2000. Notes on the spider genus Misionella with a description of... more ... Grismado, CJ and MJ Ramírez. 2000. Notes on the spider genus Misionella with a description of a new species from Brazil (Araneae: Filistatidae). Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment 35:161163. CrossRef. Hentz, NM 1842. ...
Computed tomography (CT) methods were applied to a problematic fossil spider (Arachnida: Araneae)... more Computed tomography (CT) methods were applied to a problematic fossil spider (Arachnida: Araneae) from the historical Berendt collection of Eocene (ca. 44–49 Ma) Baltic amber. The original specimens of Ocypete crassipes Koch and Berendt 1854 are in dark, oxidised amber and the published descriptions lack detail. Despite this, they were subsequently assigned to the living Pantropical genus Heteropoda Latreille, 1804 and are ostensibly the oldest records of huntsman spiders (Sparassidae) in general. Given their normally large size, and presumptive ability to free themselves more easily from resin, it would be surprising to find a sparassid in amber and traditional (optical) methods of study would likely have left O. crassipes as an equivocal record—probably a nomen dubium. However, phase contrast enhanced X-ray CT revealed exquisite morphological detail and thus ‘saved’ this historical name by revealing characters which confirm that it's a bona fide member both of Sparassidae and the subfamily Eusparassinae. We demonstrate here that CT studies facilitate taxonomic equivalence even between recent spiders and unpromising fossils described in older monographs. In our case, fine structural details such as eye arrangement, cheliceral dentition, and leg characters like a trilobate membrane, spination and claws, allow a precise referral of this fossil to an extant genus as Eusparassus crassipes (Koch and Berendt 1854) comb. nov.
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