A general list of the fauna together with illustrations

A general list of the fauna together with illustrations

The following is a list of the Rhynie chert arthropod fauna that have been described to date.

A controversial arthropod known from the remains of a single specimen, Rhyniognatha hirsti (Tillyard 1928), is now believed to be closely related to the pterygote insects based on the structure of it's mandibles (Engel & Grimaldi 2004). Also included for completeness is an arthropod of uncertain affinities; Rhynimonstrum dunlopi (Anderson & Trewin 2003). Discoveries of new elements of the Rhynie fauna have recently been made, and once described and published with be added to this list in due course.

Click on the image thumbnails for a close up.

Trigonotarbids

Species Described from the Rhynie chert

  • Palaeocharinus rhyniensis
  • Palaeocharinus hornei
  • Palaeocharinus tuberculatus
  • *Palaeocteniza crassipes

*Note: A single specimen of a tiny arachnid described from the chert by Hirst (1923), Palaeocteniza crassipes, as being related to modern trap-door spiders is now regarded as a juvenile trigonotarbid (Selden et al. 1991).

    
Useful Texts


General Features

Extinct arachnids similar in appearance to spiders but lacking spinnerets and possessing a segmented abdomen.

Palaeoecology

Predator, living in terrestrial habitats. Often found in plant-rich beds, occasionally within empty sporangia and hollow plant stems.

Images

Reconstruction of a trigonotarbid arachnid from the Rhynie Chert, Palaeocharinus rhyniensis, showing segmented abdomen (a), walking legs (l), pedipalps (p) and head (h) with lateral (la) and median eyes (m). (after Dunlop 1996b) (scale bar = 2mm).

Reconstruction of Palaeocharinus tuberculatus, a new trigonotarbid arachnid species from the Windyfield Chert, showing the distinctive micro-tuberculate ornament on the body and legs (Fayers et al. in press) (scale bar = 2mm).

Harvestmen

Species Described from the Rhynie chert

  • Eophalangium sheari

Useful Texts

General Features

Arachnids lacking a distinct division between the head and body, with a segmented abdomen. Typically possess a small ovoid body with long slender legs.

Palaeoecology

Predator / saprovore / detritivore, living in damp terrestrial habitats, mostly in plant litter.

Image

Longitudinal cross-section through the body of a female harvestmen (anterior to the left), showing the eye tubercle (et), chelicerae (ch), some of the leg coxae (cx), ovipositor (ovi) and gut trace (g)  (scale bar = 1mm) (Copyright owned by University of Münster).

Mites

Species Described from the Rhynie chert

  • Protacarus crani
  • Protospeleorchestes pseudoprotacarus
  • Pseudoprotacarus scoticus
  • Palaeotydeus devonicus
  • Paraprotocarus hirsti   

Useful Texts

General Features

Very small arachnids that lack a distinct division between the head and the body and have a smooth abdomen.  

Palaeoecology

Micro-herbivore / saprovore, living in damp terrestrial habitats, primarily in plant litter and soil. Some probably also fed on sap from living plants. Occasionally found within empty sporangia.    

Image

The holotype of the mite Protacarus crani, showing stylet-like chelicerae (c), pedipalps (p) and walking legs (l) (after Hirst 1923) (scale bar = 100μm).

Myriapods

Species Described from the Rhynie chert

  • Crussolum sp.    

Useful Texts

General Features

A centipede similar to the modern house centipede, possessing strong poison jaws or 'forcipules', long antennae and 15 pairs of long multi-segmented walking legs.

Palaeoecology

Active predator, living in damp terrestrial habitats, such as in soils, plant litter and under stones.    

Images

Ventral view of parts of the poison claws or forcipules of Crussolum sp. (A) (scale bar = 1mm). Shown are the coxosternite (cx) with socketed spines (s), 'trochanter' (tr), femuroid (fm) with spine socket (sp), femur (f), tibia (t) and the base of the apical claw (a).

Line drawing of the head and forcipules (highlighted in purple) of a modern house centipede (B) (after Lewis 1981) for comparison. Shown are the coxosternite (cx), femuroid (fm), femur (f) and tibia (t).

Species Described from the Rhynie chert

Leverhulmia mariae   

Useful Texts

Anderson & Trewin 2003    

General Features

A small myriapodous arthropod with at least 5 pairs of walking legs, each with densely crowded hairs or setae on the posterior of the last (tarsal) segment.    

Palaeoecology

Saprovore / detritivore, living in damp terrestrial habitats, most probably in plant litter.    

Image

Longitudinal section of Leverhulmia mariae (anterior towards the left of photograph) showing trunk with gut contents (g) and uniramous appendages (l) comprising at least five pairs (1 - 5) (scale bar = 2mm).

Hexapods

Species Described from the Rhynie chert

  • Rhyniella praecursor    

Useful Texts

General Features

A springtail (Collembola), with 3 pairs of legs, an abdomen of 6 segments, possessing a furcula or jumping organ on the 4th abdominal segment and a curious ventral tube on the 1st abdominal segment.

Palaeoecology

Saprovore, living in damp terrestrial habitats, particularly in plant litter and soil.

Image

Sketch of a probable exuva (moult) of the springtail Rhyniella praecursor, showing head with antennae (Ant), thorax (Thor) with three pairs of legs (Lg1 - Lg3), and the anterior segments of the abdomen (Abd) with the ventral tube or collophore (Col) attached to the first abdominal segment (after Scourfield 1940a & b).

Species Described from the Rhynie chert

  • Rhyniognatha hirsti

Useful Texts

General Features

The earliest known pterygote insect. Known only from the fragmentary mouthparts of one specimen, comprising a pair of robust mandibles with bladed tooth-like structures. Although fossil evidence is so far lacking, Rhyniognatha may have possessed primitive wings.

Palaeoecology

Comparing the jaws with those of modern insects, Rhyniognatha may have fed on higher plant tissues.    

Image

Type and only specimen of the pterygote insect Rhyniognatha hirsti (anterior towards the top) showing the sharp, bladed mandibles (m). The mandibles are directly comparable to those seen in the pterygote clade Metapterygota. Rhyniognatha is a relatively derived basal insect, and  may have possessed primitive wings (Engel & Grimaldi 2004)  (scale bar = 200μm) (Copyright owned by The Natural History Museum).

Crustaceans

Species Described from the Rhynie chert

  • Lepidocaris rhyniensis

Useful Texts

General Features

A small multi-segmented crustacean with 10 pairs of biramous leaf-like trunk appendages, long biramous antennae with plumose setae and lacking a cephalic shield in adults. Maxillae modified and look like the first 2 pairs of trunk limbs.

Palaeoecology

Micro-herbivore / detritivore, living in ephemeral freshwater ponds.

Image

Reconstruction of the crustacean Lepidocaris rhyniensis. This is a female showing the brood pouch (e) (Scourfield 1926) (scale bar = 1mm).

Species Described from the Rhynie chert

  • Castracollis wilsonae    

Useful Texts

General Features

8mm long, multisegmented crustacean. Thorax of up to 26 somites, each bearing legs. Up to 28 apodous abdominal segments. 2 series of thoracic legs. Anterior series: 11 pairs of long raptorial legs. Posterior series: 10-15 pairs of smaller phyllopodous legs. Head with large mandibles and long, symmetrical, biramous second antennae.

Palaeoecology

Similar to modern Tadpole Shrimps - detritivore / carnivore, living in ephemeral freshwater ponds.

Image

Reconstruction of the crustacean Castracollis wilsonae (Fayers and Trewin 2003), shown with a hypothetical cephalothoracic shield. The animal in the lower right of the image is next to axes of the charophyte Palaeonitella cranii.

 

Euthycarcinoids

Species Described from the Rhynie chert

  • Heterocrania rhyniensis

Useful Texts

General Features

Multi-segmented arthropod sharing features with crustaceans and myriapods. Body comprises 5 large dorsal segments, each with 2 corresponding ventral segments that bear a pair of multi-segmented legs.

Palaeoecology

Micro-herbivore / detritivore, living in ephemeral freshwater ponds.

Image

Reconstruction of the euthycarcinoid Heterocrania rhyniensis (Anderson & Trewin 2003) (scale bar = 2mm).

Arthropoda incertae sedis

Species Described from the Rhynie chert

  • Rhynimonstrum dunlopi

Useful Texts

Anderson & Trewin 2003

General Features

Articulated tubular segments of cuticle, the leading edge of each with a ring of sockets for spines or setae. Sometimes associated with sheets of punctate cuticle and clusters of long robust setae.

Palaeoecology

Unknown

Image

Rhynimonstrum dunlopi showing ring-like segments with sockets (top right) and associated segments of punctate cuticle (centre) (scale bar = 1mm).