A strange, spiny-legged arachnid from prehistoric times has been unearthed in Illinois.
The newly discovered species, named Douglassarachne acanthopoda, lived around 308 million years ago and was around 0.5 inches in length. The discovery of the fossilized creature is detailed in a study published in the Journal of Paleontology.
It was found in the Mazon Creek, Illinois, known for its extensive fossil beds and where many prehistoric finds are waiting to be uncovered. The creature is characterized by its "remarkably robust and spiny legs."
"Such that it is quite unlike any other arachnid known, living or extinct," lead author Paul Selden, from the University of Kansas, said in a statement.
Over 300 million years ago, there were many arachnids living across the coal forest of North America. Spiders were one of them, however we would not recognize many of the long-extinct creatures today.
"Other arachnids were around at the time, for example very primitive spiders, trigonotarbids (which looked like armored spiders but lacked poison and silk), as well as whip spiders, whip scorpions, and scorpions," Selden told Newsweek. "Douglassarachne looks rather like a spider or trigonotarbid but has these very long, curved spines on its legs, which are very distinctive and unusual. We do not know much else about it so cannot place it close to any arachnid group, but it is probably somewhere near spiders and trigonotarbids."
At the time, spiders were a rare group, with only primitive lineages, co-author Jason Dunlop from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, explained in a statement. He said the Douglassarachne acanthopoda is a "particularly impressive example of one of these extinct forms."
The distinctive spiny legs of this creature are not dissimilar to the modern-day harvestman, also known as daddy longlegs, yet its body is quite different from any type of spider seen before. For this reason, researchers believe that the new creature is part of a different arachnid group that is not known well to science.
Unfortunately, details of the creature's mouth are difficult to decipher and this is a key area in telling scientists more about where they came from. Whichever arachnid order it comes from, its spiny legs indicate it came from a time when arachnids were evolving in many different, experimental ways.
"It is serendipity that finds fossils in these Mazon Creek nodules. You never know what you are going to get when you crack one open: a seed fern pinnule usually, maybe a small shrimp or clam, only rarely an arachnid," Selden said. "So we have to wait until new things turn up, like this one, and can't really go out specifically to look for arachnids.
"There are some other arachnids in the Mazon Creek nodules which need study. Nothing so amazing as Douglassarachne to look at, but they might be of interest scientifically. Watch this space."
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