A new species of &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Lacinius&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; in amber (Arachnida: Opiliones)

J A Dunlop,D Penney,P G Mitov

doi:10.5194/fr-18-37-2015

Abstract

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.

Highlights

Harvestmen in the genus Lacinius (Opiliones: Phalangiidae) Thorell, 1876 are typically characterized by a distinctive spiny ornament across the legs and body
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 Starega, 1966
One species is recognized from the USA (Banks, 1893), while a further putative American Lacinius was synonymized with a species in Odiellus Roewer, 1923 by Cokendolpher and Lee (1993)

Summary

Introduction

Harvestmen in the genus Lacinius (Opiliones: Phalangiidae) Thorell, 1876 are typically characterized by a distinctive spiny ornament across the legs and body. In their original description, Dunlop and Mitov (2009) considered their Lacinius fossil to be anatomically indistinguishable from the Recent species Lacinus erinaceus (Starega, 1966), and tentatively assigned the amber inclusion to this taxon. This extant harvestman was first described from Abkhazia in the Caucasus Starega, 1966, and was later documented from the provinces of Bayburt and Gümüshane in northeastern Turkey too (Kurt and Erman, 2012). Their pedipalp morphology differs from Lacinus erinaceus (and other extant species); we suggest that both amber specimens should be referred to as a new taxon

Material and methods

Systematic palaeontology

Discussion