A chelicera-bearing arthropod reveals the Cambrian origin of chelicerates

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  A chelicera-bearing arthropod reveals the Cambrian origin of chelicerates Abstract Chelicerata is a megadiverse (over 120,000 species) arthropod clade that includes familiar taxa of profound ecological and economic importance, such as scorpions, spiders and mites 1 . Extant chelicerates share a unique anatomical character, the chelicerae—feeding first appendages terminated by a simple pincer-like chela 2 . The fossil record of these primarily predatory animals spans almost 500 million years 3 , suggesting a likely yet undocumented origin during the Cambrian Explosion. Artiopods 4 , 5 , 6 , megacheirans 4 , 7 , 8 , 9 , habeliids 10 , 11 , 12 , 13  and mollisoniids 14 , 15  have been considered Cambrian stem- or crown-group chelicerates, but they all lack unequivocal chelicerae, leaving the emergence of chelicerae-bearing arthropods unclear. Here we describe  Megachelicerax cousteaui  gen. et sp. nov., a large soft-bodied arthropod from the middle Cambrian of Ut...

Systematics of the Western Ghats endemic tarantula subfamily Thrigmopoeinae with the description of a new genus and four new species

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Systematics of the Western Ghats endemic tarantula subfamily Thrigmopoeinae with the description of a new genus and four new species

Abstract
The Western Ghats are a biodiversity hotspot known for its high degree of endemism. The tarantula subfamily Thrigmopoeinae, with two genera and seven species, is endemic to the Western Ghats. A taxonomic account of the Western Ghats endemic tarantula subfamily Thrigmopoeinae is presented. The study is based on a re-examination of existing museum material and a fresh collection from across the Western Ghats. Rediagnosis of the genera Haploclastus Simon, 1892 and Thrigmopoeus Pocock, 1899, is presented with a description of a new genus and four new species. The genus Cilantica gen. nov. is proposed to accommodate Cilantica phsycadelicus comb. nov. and Cilantica kayi comb. nov., and a new species from the southern Western Ghats. Thrigmopoeinae, being endemic to the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot, is a vital flagship for invertebrate conservation.

Mirza ZA (2024) Systematics of the Western Ghats endemic tarantula subfamily Thrigmopoeinae with the description of a new genus and four new species. Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa” 67(2): 183-234. https://doi.org/10.3897/travaux.67.e112517