Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T10:31:52.695Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

XYSTICUS ARCHAEOPALPUS (ARACHNIDA: THOMISIDAE), A NEW SPECIES OF CRAB SPIDER FROM PLIOCENE SEDIMENTS IN WESTERN ALASKA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Robin Leech
Affiliation:
Entomology Research Institute, Canada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa
John V. Matthews Jr.
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Alberta, Edmonton

Abstract

The palpus of a fossil crab spider, Xysticus archaeopalpus new species, is described. It was found in peat beds of the Lava Camp Mine near Deering, Alaska. This species belongs in the loculpes group, and is closely related to the extant species, Xysticus britcheri Gertsch. The peats are overlaid by basalt dating 5.7 million years old by the K/Ar method. Regional and local paleo-environmental conditions, based on evidence provided by plant and insect fossils, are discussed.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1971

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Coope, G. R., Shotten, F. W., and Strachan, I. S.. 1961. A late Pleistocene fauna and flora from Upton Warren, Worcester. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. (B) 244: 379421.Google Scholar
Hopkins, D. M., Matthews, J. V., Wolfe, J. A., and Silberman, M. L.. 1971. A Pliocene flora and insect fauna from the Bering Strait region. Paleogr., Paleoecol., Paleoclim. 9: 211231. 4 figs.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAlpine, J. F. and Martin, J. E. H.. 1969. Canadian amber—a paleontological treasurechest. Can. Ent. 101(8): 819838. 17 figs.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmer, A. R. 1957. Miocene arthropods from the Mojave Desert, California. Prof. Pap. U.S. geol. Surv. 294-G, 237280.Google Scholar
Petrunkevitch, A. 1942. A study of amber spiders. Trans. Conn. Acad. Arts Sci. 34: 119464. 69 pl.Google Scholar
Petrunkevitch, A. 1955. Arachnida, pp. 42162. 116 figs. In Moore, R. C. (Ed.), Treatise on invertebrate paleontology, Part P. Arthropoda 2.Google Scholar
Petrunkevitch, A. 1958. Amber spiders in European collections. Trans. Conn. Acad. Arts Sci. 41: 97400. 591 figs.Google Scholar
Petrunkevitch, A. 1963. Chiapas amber spiders. Univ. Calif. Publs Ent., Vol. 31(1), pp. 1–40, 131 text figs., 2 pl.Google Scholar