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- Title
Palaeontology: Preserved organs of Devonian harvestmen.
- Authors
Dunlop, Jason A.; Anderson, Lyall I.; Kerp, Hans; Hass, Hagen
- Abstract
Harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) are a common and widespread group, the most familiar of which are recognizable by their small, rounded bodies and long, slender legs ('daddy long-legs'). Their fossil record is generally poor, but new and exceptionally well-preserved harvestmen have been found in the famous 400-million-year-old Rhynie cherts of Scotland. These remarkable and surprisingly modern-looking fossils include male and female genital structures (a penis and ovipositor) and branching tracheal tubes - providing the oldest unequivocal evidence in any arthropod for air-breathing through the tracheae.
- Subjects
OPILIONES; ORGANS (Anatomy); DEVONIAN stratigraphic geology
- Publication
Nature, 2003, Vol 425, Issue 6961, p916
- ISSN
0028-0836
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/425916a