A large brush-footed trapdoor spider (Mygalomorphae: Barychelidae) from the Miocene of Australia

McCurry MR; Michael Frese; R Raven

doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad100

A large brush-footed trapdoor spider (Mygalomorphae: Barychelidae) from the Miocene of Australia

McCurry MR, Michael Frese, R Raven

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Abstract

The aridification of the Australian continent led to the diversification of mygalomorph spiders in the Miocene, but a depauperate fossil record has made it difficult to investigate evolution across this epoch. Here, we describe the first fossil barychelid spider (Araneae: Barychelidae) in the world and the second fossil mygalomorph spider from Australia. It is placed as a new genus and species (Megamonodontium mccluskyi gen. et sp. nov.). Megamonodontium resembles Monodontium Kulczyński, 1908, a genus that persists in rainforests through Singapore, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The new specimen is the second largest spider fossil in the world and is approximately five times larger than extant Monodontium. The fossil shows that this lineage once occupied mesic rainforest habitats in Australia but has since been replaced by other spiders.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1026-1033
Number of pages	8
Journal	Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
Volume	200
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad100
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2024

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10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad100Licence: CC BY

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title = "A large brush-footed trapdoor spider (Mygalomorphae: Barychelidae) from the Miocene of Australia",

abstract = "The aridification of the Australian continent led to the diversification of mygalomorph spiders in the Miocene, but a depauperate fossil record has made it difficult to investigate evolution across this epoch. Here, we describe the first fossil barychelid spider (Araneae: Barychelidae) in the world and the second fossil mygalomorph spider from Australia. It is placed as a new genus and species (Megamonodontium mccluskyi gen. et sp. nov.). Megamonodontium resembles Monodontium Kulczy{\'n}ski, 1908, a genus that persists in rainforests through Singapore, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The new specimen is the second largest spider fossil in the world and is approximately five times larger than extant Monodontium. The fossil shows that this lineage once occupied mesic rainforest habitats in Australia but has since been replaced by other spiders.",

keywords = "arachnid, Cenozoic, climate, fossil, goethite, McGraths Flat, Monodontium",

author = "McCurry MR and Michael Frese and R Raven",

note = "Funding Information: We thank the Etheridge descendants, whose generous donation funded this work along with the Australian Research Council (Linkage Grant LP210301049). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Linnean Society of London.",

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AU - Raven, R

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the Etheridge descendants, whose generous donation funded this work along with the Australian Research Council (Linkage Grant LP210301049). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Linnean Society of London.

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N2 - The aridification of the Australian continent led to the diversification of mygalomorph spiders in the Miocene, but a depauperate fossil record has made it difficult to investigate evolution across this epoch. Here, we describe the first fossil barychelid spider (Araneae: Barychelidae) in the world and the second fossil mygalomorph spider from Australia. It is placed as a new genus and species (Megamonodontium mccluskyi gen. et sp. nov.). Megamonodontium resembles Monodontium Kulczyński, 1908, a genus that persists in rainforests through Singapore, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The new specimen is the second largest spider fossil in the world and is approximately five times larger than extant Monodontium. The fossil shows that this lineage once occupied mesic rainforest habitats in Australia but has since been replaced by other spiders.

AB - The aridification of the Australian continent led to the diversification of mygalomorph spiders in the Miocene, but a depauperate fossil record has made it difficult to investigate evolution across this epoch. Here, we describe the first fossil barychelid spider (Araneae: Barychelidae) in the world and the second fossil mygalomorph spider from Australia. It is placed as a new genus and species (Megamonodontium mccluskyi gen. et sp. nov.). Megamonodontium resembles Monodontium Kulczyński, 1908, a genus that persists in rainforests through Singapore, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The new specimen is the second largest spider fossil in the world and is approximately five times larger than extant Monodontium. The fossil shows that this lineage once occupied mesic rainforest habitats in Australia but has since been replaced by other spiders.

KW - arachnid

KW - Cenozoic

KW - climate

KW - fossil

KW - goethite

KW - McGraths Flat

KW - Monodontium

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DO - 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad100

M3 - Article

SN - 0024-4082

VL - 200

SP - 1026

EP - 1033

JO - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

JF - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

IS - 4

ER -

A large brush-footed trapdoor spider (Mygalomorphae: Barychelidae) from the Miocene of Australia

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