Woodwardopterus

Woodwardopterus
Temporal range: Early Carboniferous
?350–252 Ma Possible Changhsingian record
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Order: †Eurypterida
Superfamily: †Mycteropoidea
Family: †Mycteroptidae
Genus: †Woodwardopterus
Kjellesvig-Waering, 1959
Type species
†Woodwardopterus scabrosus
Woodward, 1887
Species
  • †?W. freemanorum Poschmanna & Rozefelds, 2021

Woodwardopterus is a genus of prehistoric eurypterid, or sea scorpion, classified as part of the family Mycteroptidae.

The genus contains one confirmed species, W. scabrosus, from the Carboniferous of Glencartholm, Scotland.[1] Originally classified as Eurypterus scabrosus, it was later found to be generically distinct and placed as a member of the family Mycteroptidae. Later in 2005, was assigned to its own genus, and linked to a new own family, Woodwardopteridae inside Mycteropoidea, probably as a sister taxon of Megarachne.[2] W. scarabrosus had carapace length about 15 cm (5.9 in) and estimated total length about 45 cm (18 in).[2][3]

A possible second species, ?W. freemanorum, was named in 2021 and comes from the Changhsingian (Late Permian) beds of the Baralaba Coal Measures, Bowen Basin, central Queensland, Australia. This possible second species is important due to be the geologically youngest eurypterid discovered (at least 11 Ma younger than any previously known relative), showing that large sweep-feeding eurypterids persisted until the end-Permian extinction in the southern high latitudes of Gondwana.[4] W. freemanorum was described by Andrew Rozefelds of Queensland Museum (also adjunct associate at Central Queensland University[5]) and German expert Markus Poschmann of the Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe RLP.[6] It was named after Nick Freeman,[4] who discovered the large but incomplete fragment of the creature's cuticle about 12 cm (4.7 in) long[4] on his family property near Theodore in central Queensland in the 1990s. After being taken to the Queensland museum for identification in 2013, it was subsequently dated as being 252 million years old. Later research showed that this specimen was the last known eurypterid in the world, having lived not long before the end of Permian extinction event, in which around 96 per cent of all species went extinct. It was probably a large sweep-feeder commonly considered as mycteroptid ecology,[7] estimated to have a length of greater than 1 m (3 ft 3 in).[4]

  1. ^ Tetlie, O. E. (2007). "Distribution and dispersal history of Eurypterida (Chelicerata)". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 252 (3–4): 557–574. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.05.011. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Selden, P. A.; Corronca, J. A.; Hünicken., M. A. (2005). "The true identity of the supposed giant fossil spider Megarachne". Biology Letters. 1 (1): 44–48. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2004.0272. PMC 1629066. PMID 17148124.
  3. ^ Lamsdell, James C.; Braddy, Simon J. (2010-04-23). "Cope's Rule and Romer's theory: patterns of diversity and gigantism in eurypterids and Palaeozoic vertebrates". Biology Letters. 6 (2): 265–269. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0700. ISSN 1744-9561. PMC 2865068. PMID 19828493.
  4. ^ a b c d Poschmann, Markus J.; Rozefelds, Andrew (2021). "The last eurypterid – a southern high-latitude record of sweep-feeding sea scorpion from Australia constrains the timing of their extinction". Historical Biology. 33 (12): 121–138. doi:10.1080/08912963.2021.1998033. S2CID 252467508.
  5. ^ "Museum cold case uncovers new species of sea scorpion". Phys.org. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Youngest Sea Scorpion Fossil Found in Australia". Sci News. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  7. ^ Lamsdell, James C.; Braddy, Simon J.; Tetlie, O. Erik (2010-03-15). "The systematics and phylogeny of the Stylonurina (Arthropoda: Chelicerata: Eurypterida)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 8 (1): 49–61. doi:10.1080/14772011003603564. ISSN 1477-2019. S2CID 85398946.