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A new specimen of Paleomerus hamiltoni (Arthropoda; Arachnomorpha)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2007

O. Erik Tetlie  and
Rachel A. Moore
O. Erik Tetlie
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK.
Rachel A. Moore
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK.
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Abstract

A fourth specimen of the enigmatic Lower Cambrian arthropod Paleomerus hamiltoni is described from the Mickwitzia Sandstone of Sweden. The nature of the telson of P. hamiltoni was previously unknown and it has been assumed that the abdomen consisted of 12 segments, the posterior-most being elongate and tapering. This new material constitutes a mould of the entire animal and a cast of the posterior-most abdominal segment and telson, proving that the abdomen consists of 11 segments and a short, tapering telson, which was previously misinterpreted as the twelfth abdominal segment. The presence of 11 abdominal segments in P. hamiltoni eliminates significant diff erences between it and Strabops thacheri, supporting assignment to Strabopidae and rendering the family Paleomeridae redundant.

Keywords

AtdabanianCambrianStrabopidaetelson
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 94 , Issue 3 , September 2003 , pp. 195 - 198
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 2003

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