Published May 29, 2023 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Leptopsalis Thorell 1882

Description

Genus Leptopsalis Thorell, 1882

Type species. Leptopsalis beccarii Thorell, 1882.

Diagnosis. See Clouse 2012.

Remarks. The holotype of Leptopsalis breyeri sp. nov. (MB.A.4457; Figs. 3–4) is an adult male, because of its large size and the presence of an adenostyle on tarsus IV. This specimen can be reliably identified as a member of the family Stylocellidae. The ornamented second cheliceral segment, type 2 ozophores, free sternites, C-shaped spiracles and the position of the fringed adenostyle are typical characters for representatives of this family. The possible presence of eyes and indistinctly curved opisthosomal sternal sulci combined with the absence of anal gland pores and extensive cheliceral sculpturing suggest affinities to the extant genus Leptopsalis. Furthermore, the habitus of this fossil is somewhat similar to that of the holotype of Sirocellus iunctus sp. nov. (GPIH05128) described above. However, specimen MB.A.4457 is much larger and features a completely different adenostyle on tarsus IV. The latter cannot be observed in any of the extant species of Leptopsalis, which often have a rather small adenostyle. Based on these characters, this fossil is provisionally placed as an extinct species of Leptopsalis. However, we should keep in mind that some of the characters are possibly plesiomorphic, like the mostly straight opisthosomal sternal sulci, which is the predominant form observed in all our fossils.

Notes

Published as part of Bartel, Christian, Dunlop, Jason A. & Giribet, Gonzalo, 2023, An unexpected diversity of Cyphophthalmi (Arachnida: Opiliones) in Upper Cretaceous Burmese amber, pp. 421-445 in Zootaxa 5296 (3) on pages 425-426, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5296.3.6, http://zenodo.org/record/7984131

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Thorell
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Order
Opiliones
Family
Stylocellidae
Genus
Leptopsalis
Taxon rank
genus
Taxonomic concept label
Leptopsalis Thorell, 1882 sec. Bartel, Dunlop & Giribet, 2023

References

  • Thorell, T. (1882) Descrizione di alcuni Aracnidi inferiori dell' Arcipelago Malese. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, 18, 21 - 69.