Two new Palaeozoic whip scorpion species discovered
Palaeozoic fossils of whip scorpions are extremely rare, with only seven species fully described. In a new study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, PhD candidate Richard Knecht (Naomi Pierce, Advisor) and co-authors describe two new species of whip scorpions from the Carboniferous Narragansett Basin of Massachusetts.
At 34mm long, the first fossil, Parilisthelyphonus bryantae, is the largest known Palaeozoic whip scorpion and the first fossil arachnid to be found in the Rhode Island Formation in approximately 130 years. The second fossil, Inmontibusichnus charleshenryturneri, is a whip scorpion trace fossil, comprising a full-body impression and associated tracks from the subjacent Wamsutta Formation of Massachusetts. Inmontibusichnus is the first of its kind in the fossil record and, with an estimated body length of less than 10 mm, it is the smallest known Palaeozoic whip scorpion.
These discoveries within the Narragansett Basin represent only the second site in the western hemisphere, in what was western Laurasia, to yield Palaeozoic whip scorpions. “The Narragansett Basin is of significant Pangaean biogeographical importance among whip scorpion sites, being located between the westernmost Mazon Creek Lagerstätte of Illinois and the eastern assemblage of localities in Europe,” said Knecht, “it serves as an important new fossil calibration point for phylogenetic studies of this arachnid group.”
