@article {1800, title = {The largest arthropod in Earth history: insights from newly discovered Arthropleura remains (Serpukhovian Stainmore Formation, Northumberland, England)}, journal = {Journal of the Geological Society}, volume = {179}, year = {2022}, month = {21/12/2021}, pages = {1-18}, type = {Research Article}, abstract = {

Arthropleura is a genus of giant myriapods that ranged from the early Carboniferous to Early Permian, with some individuals attaining lengths \>2 m. Although most of the known fossils of the genus are disarticulated and occur primarily in late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) strata, we report here partially articulated Arthropleura remains from the early Carboniferous Stainmore Formation (Serpukhovian; Pendleian) in the Northumberland Basin of northern England. This 76\ \×\ 36 cm specimen represents part of an exuvium and is notable because only two comparably articulated giant Arthropleura fossils are previously known. It represents one of the largest known arthropod fossils and the largest arthropleurid recovered to date, the earliest (Mississippian) body fossil evidence for gigantism in Arthropleura, and the first instance of a giant arthropleurid body fossil within the same regional sedimentary succession as the large arthropod trackway Diplichnites cuithensis. The remains represent 12\–14 anterior Arthropleura tergites in the form of a partially sand-filled dorsal exoskeleton. The original organism is estimated to have been 55 cm in width and up to 2.63 m in length, weighing c. 50 kg. The specimen is preserved partially in three dimensions within fine sandstone and has been moderately deformed by synsedimentary tectonics. Despite imperfect preservation, the specimen corroborates the hypothesis that Arthropleura had a tough, sclerotized exoskeleton. Sedimentological evidence for a lower delta plain depositional environment supports the contention that Arthropleura preferentially occupied open woody habitats, rather than swampy environments, and that it shared such habitats with tetrapods. When viewed in the context of all the other global evidence for Arthropleura, the specimen contributes to a dataset that shows the genus had an equatorially restricted palaeogeographical range, achieved gigantism prior to late Paleozoic peaks in atmospheric oxygen, and was relatively unaffected by climatic events in the late Carboniferous, prior to its extinction in the early Permian.

Supplementary material: Images of 3D mesh model of Arthropleura are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5715450

}, issn = {0016-7649}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2021-115}, url = {https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/jgs2021-115}, author = {Davies, Neil S. and Garwood, Russell J. and McMahon, William J. and Schneider, Joerg W. and Shillito, Anthony P.} } @article {65, title = {Carboniferous Onychophora from Montceau-les-Mines, France, and onychophoran terrestrialization}, journal = {Invertebrate Biology}, volume = {135}, year = {2016}, month = {Jan-09-2016}, pages = {179 - 190}, abstract = {

The geological age of the onychophoran crown-group, and when the group came onto land, have been sources of debate. Although stem-group Onychophora have been identified from as early as the Cambrian, the sparse record of terrestrial taxa from before the Cretaceous is subject to contradictory interpretations. A Late Carboniferous species from the Mazon Creek biota of the USA, Helenodora inopinata, originally interpreted as a crown-group onychophoran, has recently been allied to early Cambrian stem-group taxa. Here we describe a fossil species from the Late Carboniferous Montceau-les-Mines Lagerst\ätte, France, informally referred to as an onychophoran for more than 30 years. The onychophoran affinities of Antennipatus montceauensis gen. nov., sp. nov. are indicated by the form of the trunk plicae and the shape and spacing of their papillae, details of antennal annuli, and the presence of putative slime papillae. The poor preservation of several key systematic characters for extant Onychophora, however, prohibits the precise placement of the Carboniferous fossil in the stem or crown of the two extant families, or the onychophoran stem-group as a whole. Nevertheless, A. montceauensis is the most compelling candidate to date for a terrestrial Paleozoic onychophoran.

}, keywords = {Antennipatus montceauensis gen. nov. sp. nov., Carboniferous, Ecdysozoa, fossils, Onychophora, Terrestrialization, velvet worms}, issn = {1744-7410}, doi = {10.1111/ivb.12130}, url = {http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/ivb.12130}, author = {Garwood, Russell J. and Edgecombe, Gregory D. and Charbonnier, Sylvain and Chabard, Dominique and Sotty, Daniel and Giribet, Gonzalo} }