Melbournopterus
Melbournopterus is a genus of prehistoric chelicerate, known from the Upper Silurian of Australia. It is of uncertain taxonomic placement within the subphylum Chelicerata.[1]
Description
Melbournopterus is distinguished by its prosoma (head), which is bell-shaped and emarginate in front, with subrectangular compound eyes located posteriorly on the prosoma, which strongly converge anteriorly. It was small in size, and its abdomen and appendages are unknown[2].
Species
- Melbournopterus Caster & Kjellesvig-Waering, 1953
- M. crossotus, Caster & Kjellesvig-Waering, 1953, Upper Silurian, Australia
References
- ^ Jason A. Dunlop, David Penney, & Denise Jekel; with additional contributions from Lyall I. Anderson, Simon J. Braddy, James C. Lamsdell, Paul A. Selden, & O. Erik Tetlie (2011). "A summary list of fossil spiders and their relatives". In Norman I. Platnick. The world spider catalog, version 11.5. American Museum of Natural History. http://research.amnh.org/iz/spiders/catalog/Fossil11.5.pdf. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
- ^ Størmer, L 1955. Merostomata. Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part P Arthropoda 2, Chelicerata, P39.