The first Mesozoic microwhip scorpion (Palpigradi): a new genus and species in mid-Cretaceous amber from Myanmar

Michael S Engel; Laura C V Breitkreuz; Chenyang Cai; Mabel Alvarado; Dany Azar; Diying Huang

doi:10.1007/s00114-016-1345-4

The first Mesozoic microwhip scorpion (Palpigradi): a new genus and species in mid-Cretaceous amber from Myanmar

Naturwissenschaften. 2016 Apr;103(3-4):19. doi: 10.1007/s00114-016-1345-4. Epub 2016 Feb 15.

Authors

Michael S Engel^{1

2}, Laura C V Breitkreuz³, Chenyang Cai⁴, Mabel Alvarado⁵, Dany Azar⁶, Diying Huang⁷

Affiliations

¹ Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive-Suite 140, Lawrence, KS, 66045-4415, USA. msengel@ku.edu.
² Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024-5192, USA. msengel@ku.edu.
³ Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive-Suite 140, Lawrence, KS, 66045-4415, USA. l-breitkreuz@ku.edu.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive-Suite 140, Lawrence, KS, 66045-4415, USA. malvarado@ku.edu.
⁶ Faculty of Sciences II, Department of Biology, Lebanese University, Fanar Matn, P.O. Box 26110217, Lebanon. azar@mnhn.fr.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, People's Republic of China. dyhuang@nigpas.ac.cn.

PMID: 26879963
DOI: 10.1007/s00114-016-1345-4

Abstract

A fossil palpigrade is described and figured from mid-Cretaceous (Cenomanian) amber from northern Myanmar. Electrokoenenia yaksha Engel and Huang, gen. n. et sp. n., is the first Mesozoic fossil of its order and the only one known as an inclusion in amber, the only other fossil being a series of individuals encased in Pliocene onyx marble and 94-97 million years younger than E. yaksha. The genus is distinguished from other members of the order but is remarkably consistent in observable morphological details when compared to extant relatives, likely reflecting a consistent microhabitat and biological preferences over the last 100 million years.

Keywords: Burmese amber; Cenomanian; Chelicerata; Mesozoic; Palpigradi; Taxonomy.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Amber*
Animals
Fossils*
Myanmar
Scorpions / anatomy & histology*
Scorpions / classification*
Species Specificity

Substances

Amber