Eophrynus prestvicii ( Buckland, 1837 )

Dunlop, Jason A. & Garwood, Russell J., 2014, Tomographic reconstruction of the exceptionally preserved trigonotarbid arachnid Eophrynus prestvicii, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 59 (2), pp. 443-454 : 447-450

Eophrynus prestvicii ( Buckland, 1837)

Figs. 1–4 .

1834 “Aranea”; Prestwich 1834: 376.

1837 Curculoides Prestvicii sp. nov.; Buckland 1837: 77, pl. 46: 2. 1856 Duma prestvicii (Buckland) ; Giebel 1856: 137.

1871 Eophrynus Prestvicii (Buckland) ; Woodward 1871: 386, pl. 11. 1876 Euphrynus [sic] prestvicii Buckland ; Roemer 1876: pl. 47: 12. 1882 Eophrynus Prestvicii (Buckland) ; Geinitz 1882: 241.

1882 Curculioides Prestvici Buckland ; Karsch 1882: 560.

1884 Eophrynus Prestvicii (Buckland) ; Scudder 1884: 19.

1885 Eophrynus Prestvicii (Buckland) ; Scudder 1885: 737, fig. 913.

1886 Eophrynus Prestvicii (Buckland) ; Scudder 1886: 25.

1890 Eophrynus Prestvicii (Buckland) ; Haase 1890: 652.

1891 Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland) ; Scudder 1891: 23 (also listed under Curculoides, Duma , and Euprynus).

1896 Eophrynus Prestvicii (Buckland) ; Howard and Thomas 1896: 53, pl. 1C.

1900 Eophrynus prestvichi [sic] (Buckland); Loman 1900: 82, pl. 10: B, D (also as prestwichi in the plate legend).

1902 Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland) ; Pocock 1902: 440–448, fig. 1.

1904 Eophrynus Prestwicii [sic] (Buckland); Frič 1904: 46–48, pl. 14: 3, 4, text-figs. 57–61.

1911 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Pocock 1911: 77, text-fig. 39.

1913 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Andrée 1913: 90.

1913 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Petrunkevitch 1913: 97.

1938 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Guthörl 1938: 469–470.

1949 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Petrunkevitch 1949: 246, fig. 122.

1949 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Waterlot 1949: 903, fig. 683.

1951 Eophrynus cf. prestvici (Buckland) ; Heide 1951: 66, pl. 8: 10.

1953 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Petrunkevitch 1953: 76–77.

1953 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Waterlot 1953: 574, fig. 32.

1955 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Petrunkevitch 1955: 112, figs. 32, 78.

1958 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Přibyl 1958: 429–430, 432.

1972 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Ambrose and Romano 1972: 576–577.

1979 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Strachen 1979: 309, 318, fig. 3.

1982 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Jux 1982: 81.

1985 Eophrynus prestvici (Buckland) ; Brauckmann et al. 1985: 17–18, fig. 5.

1990 Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland) ; Shear and Kukalová-Peck 1990: 1811, fig. 4.

1991 Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland) ; Brauckmann 1991: 26, fig. 6.

1994 Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland) ; Dunlop 1994: 287, 293.

1995 Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland) ; Dunlop 1995a: 459. 1995 Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland) ; Dunlop 1995b: 119.

1996 Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland) ; Dunlop 1996: 146.

1997 Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland) ; Rössler and Dunlop 1997: 238. 2009 Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland) ; Garwood et al. 2009: 841–844, figs. 1c–e, 2b.

2010 Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland) ; Garwood and Dunlop 2010: 34, fig. 4.

Holotype: NHM In 49322, reasonably well preserved mould of entire specimen, but with supposition of some dorsal and ventral features.

Type locality: British Middle Coal Measures of Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, UK.

Type horizon: Upper Carboniferous, Duckmantian (= Westphalian B).

Material.—BU 699 from the British Middle Coal Measures of Coseley near Dudley, Staffordshire, UK. Upper Carboniferous, Duckmantian (= Westphalian B). Further putative specimen from the “Faisceau de Wilhelmina, Mine Hendrik”, Limbourg, Belgium. Upper Carboniferous, Langsettian (= Westphalian A).

Description.―BU 699 large, total length 30 mm, and heavily ornamented. Carapace lobed—not segmented (cf. Haase 1890)—sub-triangular and with three semicircular lobes on each side ( Fig. 3A ), abutting a median ridge, drawn into a pointed, anteriorly directed clypeus. Median ridge also lobed, posteriorly splitting into four raised divisions; with a central ocular tubercle bearing a pair of median eyes. Carapace heavily tuberculate; edge marked by three gently curved borders corresponding to lateral lobes. Posterior margin delineated by raised, posteriorly inclined transverse ridge, edges abutting raised lateral margins of first and second opisthosomal tergites.

Ventral prosoma with prominent, almost triangular leg coxae ( Fig. 3E ), more closely spaced than shown in previous illustrations (e.g., Frič 1904: text-fig. 59). Coxae increase steadily in size posteriorly; those of fourth walking limb occupying posterior third of prosoma. Deeply recessed sternum gives prosoma a thin, concave appearance. Deep but thin transverse ridge of cuticle attaches between coxae of legs three and four. Small, closely-spaced chelicerae tucked between pedipalp coxae, palaeognath in orientation (i.e., hanging downwards with backward-pointing fangs), and lying left of the midline. Basal article (pautron) partially equivocal, but attaches proximally between pedipalp coxae. Well-preserved fangs folded and tucked under the clypeus.

Pedipalps well preserved ( Fig. 3D ), composed of an almost-spherical trochanter, longer femur, short patella (see Discussion), longer tibia and a tarsus. Legs long and slender ( Fig. 3C ) composed of a rounded trochanter (contra Haase 1890), femur (the longest article), short patella, long tibia (approaching the femora in length), short metatarsus and slightly longer tarsus. Best preserved limbs display longitudinal medial groove along more proximal articles, with small, regularly spaced depressions on either side of the groove. Distal claws of legs equivocal.

Opisthosomal segmentation best understood via the prominent dorsal ornamentation. First tergite present as a narrow sclerite, bearing a row of small tubercles proximal to posterior margin of carapace. Subsequent segments bear six large tubercles, evenly spaced across opisthosoma, lying towards posterior margin of tergite. Two smaller medial tubercles at anterior margin (clearest in life reconstruction, Fig. 4 ). Smaller tubercles fill remaining tergite surfaces, creating a highly pustulate dorsal surface. Conical lateral tubercles/ dorsally directed spines preserved on postero-lateral margins of sternites five to seven ( Fig. 3B ) and outward-pointing spines on segments eight and nine. First visible ventral opisthosomal elements are the anterior and posterior operculae, followed by sternite 4, short and truncated anteriorly by ventral sacs. Sternite 5 longer, but sternites 5–9 (as measured on the midline) decrease in length posteriorly. Degree of posterior recurvature increases posteriorly. Sternites smooth, not heavily ornamented; only visible ornamentation being pairs of small tubercles ( Woodward’s (1871) putative tracheal openings) on sternites 5–9, situated halfway between midline and lateral margins. These features poorly resolved in the scans. Ventral sacs resolved as a pair of small lobes at posterior margin of posterior operculum (opisthosomal segment 3), immediately anterior to sternite 4. Posteriormost sternite (segment 10) small and almost triangular, housing a pygidium composed of two small, ring-like segments.

Remarks.― Buckland’s (1837) original species epithet is “prestvicii ” and this spelling was retained by early workers (e.g., Woodward 1871; Pocock 1902), with a lapsus to “prestvichi ” in Loman (1900) and “prestwicii” in Frič (1904). The form “prestvici ” appears to have first been introduced by Karsch (1882) and again by Pocock (1911). This spelling was adopted by most authors after Pocock (1911), albeit with a reversal to the original -ii form in, e.g., Brauckmann (1991) and Dunlop (1994; 1995a). Following Article 33.4 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature a change from an -ii ending to an -i should be regarded as an incorrect subsequent spelling. The valid name is therefore Eophrynus prestvicii ( Buckland, 1837) .

Geographic and stratigraphic range.—Late Carboniferous (?Langsettian–Duckmantian) of? Belgium and the United

Kingdom.

Eophrynus udus Brauckmann, Koch, and Kemper,

1985

1985 Eophrynus udus sp. nov.; Brauckmann et al. 1985: 14–18, pls. 1: 1, 2, 2: 1, 2, text-figs. 2, 3.

1991 Eophrynus udus Brauckmann, Koch, and Kemper, 1985 ; Brauckmann 1991: 19–28, pl. 1a, b, text-figs. 3, 4.

2003 Eophrynus udus Brauckmann, Koch, and Kemper, 1985 ; Brauckmann et al. 2003: 51–52, fig. 21.

2006 Eophrynus udus Brauckmann, Koch, and Kemper, 1985 ; Dunlop and Brauckmann 2006: 131.

Holotype: Part and counterpart in the private collection of K.H. Hellwig, Hagen. Cast of the type in the possession of JAD.

Type locality: Hagen-Vorhalle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Type horizon: Late Carboniferous, higher Marsdenian (= Namurian B).

Remarks.―Detailed descriptions and figures were provided by Brauckmann et al. (1985) and Brauckmann (1991). This species is slightly smaller (and older) than E. prestvicii and has a more rounded opisthosoma. Otherwise, their tuberculation pattern is very similar and it is conceivable that E. udus evolved directly into E. prestvicii as part of a chronospecies lineage.

Geographic and stratigraphic range.—Late Carboniferous Marsdenian) of Germany.

Figures

Fig. 1. Historical images of Hollier’s specimen of Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland, 1837) from the British Middle Coal Measures (Late Carboniferous, Duckmantian; ca. 311 Ma) of Coseley near Dudley, Staffordshire, UK. Dorsal (A 1 –C 1) and ventral (A 2 –C 2) views. A, after Woodward (1871: pl. 11); B, after Pocock (1902: fig. 1); C, after Petrunkevitch (1953: textfigs. 82, 83).

Fig. 2. Photograph of Hollier’s specimen (BU 699) of trichotarbid arachnid Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland, 1837), whitened with ammonium chloride to improve contrast. A. Dorsal view. B. Ventral view.

Fig. 3. XMT-based reconstruction trigonotarbid arachnid Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland, 1837), from scans of BU 699. A. Dorsal view. B. Posterior view, legs removed, to show heavy opisthosomal ornamentation and spines (maximum width 15 mm). C. Fourth walking limb with podomeres labelled. D. Pedipalps with podomeres labelled. E. Ventral view. 1–12, segment numbers.

Fig. 4. A new reconstruction of trigonotarbid arachnid Eophrynus prestvicii (Buckland, 1837), with colouration based on modern laniatorid harvestmen (Opiliones: Laniatores) (see also Fig. 5). Not to scale.