A new Mesozoic record of the pseudoscorpion family Garypinidae from Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Ajkaite amber, Ajka area, Hungary

Pseudoscorpions have a sparse fossil record although they are among the oldest terrestrial lineages with origins extending to the Devonian (ca. 390 Ma). Amongst the 25 extant families of pseudoscorpions, only 14 are known from fossils, most of which are preserved in European ambers from the Eocene....

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Published inCretaceous research Vol. 153; p. 105709
Main Authors Novák, János, Harvey, Mark S., Szabó, Márton, Hammel, Jörg U., Harms, Danilo, Kotthoff, Ulrich, Hörweg, Christoph, Brazidec, Manuel, Ősi, Attila
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2024
Elsevier
Subjects
Ajkagarypinus
Amber inclusion
Earth Sciences
Late Cretaceous
Paleontology
Pseudoscorpiones
Santonian
Sciences of the Universe
Amber inclusion
Pseudoscorpiones
Santonian
Late Cretaceous
Ajkagarypinus
amber inclusion
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Summary:Pseudoscorpions have a sparse fossil record although they are among the oldest terrestrial lineages with origins extending to the Devonian (ca. 390 Ma). Amongst the 25 extant families of pseudoscorpions, only 14 are known from fossils, most of which are preserved in European ambers from the Eocene. Fossil pseudoscorpions from the Cretaceous of Europe have only been reported from three localities, Archingeay amber (France), from the Rhenish Massif (Germany), and from Álava and Teruel amber (Spain), but only one of these has ever been formally described. Here we add a new fossil pseudoscorpion genus and species, Ajkagarypinus stephani gen. et sp. nov., from an Upper Cretaceous (Santonian, ca. 86.3–83.6 Ma) amber deposit in the Ajka Coal Formation (Ajka area, Hungary), the so-called Ajkaite. This fossil extends the spatial range of the pseudoscorpion family Garypinidae and suggests that they might have been widespread in the whole Eurasian landmasses under humid, subtropical climatic conditions. •Ajkagarypinus stephani gen. et sp. nov. from Santonian is described.•Ajkagarypinus stephani is the second fossil pseudoscorpion from the Carpathian Basin.•Ajkagarypinus stephani is the second species of Garypinidae from the Mesozoic.•This fossil greatly contributes to Mesozoic pseudoscorpion biogeography.
ISSN:0195-6671
1095-998X
DOI:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105709