Fossil harvestmen (Arachnida, Opiliones) from Bitterfeld amber
Author
Dunlop, Jason
Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Author
Mitov, Plamen
University of Sofia, Sofia ,, Bulgaria
text
ZooKeys
2009
2009-07-29
16
347
375
journal article
10.3897/zookeys.16.224
2bb0a745-07bd-4df6-99e7-4d8a6b242aa5
1313–2970
576490
DB5973A9-8CF6-400B-87C4-7A4521BD3117
Leiobunum longipes
Menge, 1854
Figs 30
,
33
Synonymy
.
See
Dunlop (2006
, pp. 172-173).
Holotype
.
Probably
originally in
Danzig
(=
Gdańsk
,
Poland
), current whereabouts unknown (see also
Dunlop 2006
), from
Baltic
amber (
Palaeogene
,
Eocene
); precise locality unclear.
Additional
material.
MB
.A. 1662 (series 15/10, provisionally labelled “Gyantinae cf.
Amilenus
” but not in fact referable to this genus; see above), probably from the site of the
Goitsche
open-cast
Mine
near
Bitterfeld
,
Sachsen-Anhalt
,
Germany
; Palaeogene (Oligocene: Chattian).
Description
.
MB.A. 1656 (
Figs 30
,
33
) is an almost complete specimen of a fairly large harvestman in dorsal view. Body length:
2.1 mm
; width of prosoma and opisthosoma
1.3 mm
. Carapace procurved anteriorly, with clear division into promeso- and metapeltidium, and centrally located ocular tubercle. Length of ocularium
0.225 mm
, width
0.275 mm
, distance from ocular tubercle to front of prosoma
0.25 mm
. Opisthosoma covered by scutum parvum bearing in places slightly granular ornament; posterior region and any segmentation here obscure. Body covered with small black dots and a subcuticular, silvery pigment. Chelicerae equivocal. Pedipalps short and pediform, but details lacking. Legs relatively complete, at least proximally, elongate and slender. Leg 1 femur length
1.83 mm
, patella, 0.24. Leg 2 only known from incomplete femora. Leg 3 complete with podomere lengths (in mm) of femur, 1.79; patella, 0.45; tibia, 1.52; metatarsus, 1.86, tarsus, 3.20. Tarsus divided into 24 individual elements, becoming shorter distally, and ending in a single claw (apotele). Leg 4 only known from incomplete femora.
Remarks
.
Leiobunum longipes
Menge, 1854
is present in both Baltic and Bitterfeld amber. Apparently quite common in Baltic amber (
Staręga 2002
), this fossil is fairly large compared to the other Bitterfeld finds. Nevertheless, it is probably still only a juvenile, although we see nothing which differentiates it from the species known from Baltic amber.