Palaeothele Temporal range:
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Suborder: | Mesothelae |
Genus: | † Palaeothele |
Species: | †P. montceauensis
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Binomial name | |
†Palaeothele montceauensis (Selden, 1996)
[1]
|
Palaeothele is an extinct genus of mesothele spiders, with only one known species Palaeothele montceauensis. [1] Two fossils were found at Montceau-les-Mines, France, in ironstone concretion deposits of Late Carboniferous ( Stephanian) age, about 304 to 299 million years ago. [2]
The genus was first named as Eothele by Paul A. Selden in 1996. However, this name had already been used for a Cambrian brachiopod, so in 2000, Selden proposed the replacement name Palaeothele. Palaeothele is derived from the Greek παλαιός, "ancient", and θηλή, "nipple" – a common ending for spider names, referring to their spinnerets. [3] The species name montceauensis refers to the location where the fossils were found. [2]
In 1996, Selden suggested the relationships shown in the cladogram below. (At the time, Attercopus was thought to be a spider; it is now considered to belong to a related but separate group, the Uraraneida.) Palaeothele is shown as sister to the modern genus Heptathela since they both have "tracheal sacs", structures adjacent to the posterior book lungs. [2]
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Palaeothele Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Suborder: | Mesothelae |
Genus: | † Palaeothele |
Species: | †P. montceauensis
|
Binomial name | |
†Palaeothele montceauensis (Selden, 1996)
[1]
|
Palaeothele is an extinct genus of mesothele spiders, with only one known species Palaeothele montceauensis. [1] Two fossils were found at Montceau-les-Mines, France, in ironstone concretion deposits of Late Carboniferous ( Stephanian) age, about 304 to 299 million years ago. [2]
The genus was first named as Eothele by Paul A. Selden in 1996. However, this name had already been used for a Cambrian brachiopod, so in 2000, Selden proposed the replacement name Palaeothele. Palaeothele is derived from the Greek παλαιός, "ancient", and θηλή, "nipple" – a common ending for spider names, referring to their spinnerets. [3] The species name montceauensis refers to the location where the fossils were found. [2]
In 1996, Selden suggested the relationships shown in the cladogram below. (At the time, Attercopus was thought to be a spider; it is now considered to belong to a related but separate group, the Uraraneida.) Palaeothele is shown as sister to the modern genus Heptathela since they both have "tracheal sacs", structures adjacent to the posterior book lungs. [2]
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