In the history of arachnids, there have been quite bizarre spiders in these habitats, belonging to groups that are now extinct. Among these strange species, one stood out for its armored legs.
According to a study published this Friday in the Journal of Paleontology, Douglassarachne acanthopoda, the species of arachnid now discovered, is clearly very different from any arachnid previously described from this or any other locality.
"This compact arachnid had a body length of around 1.5 centimetres and was characterized by its robust, spiny legs. In such a way that it is completely different from any other known arachnid, living or extinct," says the study's lead author, Paul Selden.
Paul A. Selden
"Spiders were quite a rare group, only known at that time from primitive lineages, and they shared these ecosystems with several arachnids that have long since disappeared," says study co-author Jason Dunlop in a statement to EurekAlert.
The Douglassarachne acanthopoda is an example of one of these extinct forms. The fossil's spiny legs resemble some modern spiders, but its body plan is very different from any other known arachnid group, which does not belong to any of the known arachnid orders.
"The genus name Douglassarachne was given in tribute to the Douglass family, who donated the specimen to the Field Museum of Natural History for scientific study when it became clear that it represented an undescribed species," Dunlop explains.
"The term acanthopoda for the species refers to the animal's unique and characteristic spiny legs, which led us to conclude that," adds Dunlop.
The fossil under study was discovered in a clay-iron speleothem in the 1980s by Bob Masek and later acquired by the David and Sandra Douglass Collection and exhibited at the Prehistoric Life Museum.
