a new species of lacinius in amber (arachnida: opiliones)
;P. G. Mitov;J. A. Dunlop;D. Penney
european journal of psychotraumatology2014Vol. 18pp. 37-42
126
mitov2014fossila
Abstract
A new specimen
of Lacinius Thorell, 1876; (Opiliones: Phalangiidae) from Eocene
Baltic amber is described. We interpret it as conspecific with a slightly
younger record from the German Bitterfeld amber, originally referred to as
the extant species L. erinaceus Staręga, 1966. Our new
specimen reveals pedipalpal apophyses on both the patella and the tibia,
features which we can now confirm in the Bitterfeld fossil too. This unique
character combination for the genus justifies a new, extinct species:
Lacinius bizleyi sp. nov. The Baltic amber inclusion dates to ca.
44–49 Ma, and is thus the oldest putative example of Lacinius in
the fossil record. It is a further example of an arachnid species shared
between Baltic and Bitterfeld amber.