First identifiable Mesozoic harvestman (Opiliones: Dyspnoi) from Cretaceous Burmese amber.
Two inclusions in a piece of Upper Cretaceous (Albian) Burmese amber from Myanmar are described as a harvestman (Arachnida: Opiliones), Halitherses grimaldii new genus and species. The first Mesozoic harvestman to be named can be referred to the suborder Dyspnoi for the following reasons: prosoma divided into two regions, the posterior formed by the fusion of the meso- and metapeltidium; palp lacking a terminal claw, with clavate setae, and tarsus considerably shorter than the tibia. The bilobed, anteriorly projecting ocular tubercle is reminiscent of that of ortholasmatine nemastomatids. The status of other Mesozoic fossils referred to Opiliones is briefly reviewed.
Giribet
Gonzalo
G
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. ggiribet@oeb.harvard.edu
Dunlop
Jason A
JA
D018647:Amber; D000818:Animals; D001097:Arachnida / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification; D005580:Fossils; D002052:Myanmar; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity
D018647:Amber