Burmesarchaea

Burmesarchaea is a diverse extinct genus of spiders, placed in the family Archaeidae. The type species Burmesarchaea grimaldii was first described in 2003 and least 13 more species have been assigned to the genus. The genus has been exclusively found in Cretaceous Burmese amber,[1] which is dated to 99 million years ago.

Burmesarchaea
Temporal range:
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Archaeidae
Genus: †Burmesarchaea
Wunderlich, 2017
Species
  • See text

Description

Burmesarchaea grimaldii is only known from a single male specimen preserved in amber. It is a small spider, with a body length of just under 2 mm (0.079 in). Characteristic of the family Archaeidae, the head region is raised up from the thorax, although without the distinctive "neck" found in other genera in the family. It is presumed to have eight eyes (the posterior median eye is not visible); the anterior median eye is the largest. The chelicerae are long relative to the body at about 0.8 mm (0.031 in), and project forward at about 45 degrees. The longest leg, the first, is 3.3 mm (0.13 in) long; the shortest, the third, is 1.7 mm (0.067 in) long. All the legs are without spines. The pedipalp has a large, rounded bulb with a spoon-shaped embolus and bent tegular apophysis.[2]

Taxonomy

A fossil spider, the type species holotype from Burmese amber, was first described by David Penny in 2003 as Afrarchaea grimaldii.[2] The species name grimaldii honours David Grimaldi of the American Museum of Natural History for his contributions to the study of amber and for assistance with the specimen. In 2008, J. Wunderlich transferred A. grimaldii and Lacunauchenius speciosus to his newly erected genus, Burmesarchaea.[1][3][4]

Species
  • B. alissa Wunderlich, 2017
  • B. caudata Wunderlich, 2017
  • B. crassicaput Wunderlich, 2017
  • B. crassichelae Wunderlich, 2017
  • B. gibber Wunderlich, 2017
  • B. gibberoides Wunderlich, 2017
  • B. gibbosa Wunderlich, 2017
  • B. grimaldii (Penney, 2003)
  • B. longicollum Wunderlich, 2017
  • B. propinqua Wunderlich, 2017
  • B. pseudogibber Wunderlich, 2017
  • B. pustulata Wunderlich, 2017
  • B. quadrata Wunderlich, 2017
  • B. speciosa (Wunderlich, 2008)

References
  1. Dunlop, J.A.; Penney, D. & Jekel, D. (2016), "A summary list of fossil spiders and their relatives, version 17.5" (PDF), World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2016-10-15
  2. Penney, D. (2003), "Afrarchaea grimaldii, a new species of Archaeidae (Araneae) in Cretaceous Burmese amber" (PDF), Journal of Arachnology, 31: 122–130, doi:10.1636/0161-8202(2003)031[0122:AGANSO]2.0.CO;2, S2CID 56446480, retrieved 2016-10-15
  3. "†Burmesarchaea Wunderlich 2008 (spider)", The Paleobiology Database, retrieved 2016-10-15
  4. Wunderlich, J. (2017). "New and rare fossil spiders (Araneae) in mid Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Burma), including the description of new extinct families of the suborders Mesothelae and Opisthothelae, as well as notes on the taxonomy, the evolution and the biogeography of the Mesothelae". Beiträge zur Araneologie. 10: 72–279.
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