A chasmataspidid affinity for the putative xiphosuran Kiaeria Størmer, 1934
DOI | 10.1007/s12542-019-00493-8 |
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Year | 2020 |
Journal | Paläontologische Zeitschrift |
Volume | 94 |
Number | 3 |
Pages | 449-453 |
Type | article in journal |
Language | English |
Id | 21153 |
Abstract
The putative xiphosuran Kiaeria Størmer, 1934, from the Late Silurian (Ludlow) of Ringerike, Norway, is redescribed from the holotype and only known specimen as a chasmataspidid chelicerate arthropod. Morphological features such as the presence of a fused buckler of three opisthosomal segments clearly indicate a chasmataspidid afnity, while the size of Kiaeria, along with the occurrence of a raised axial region and expanded anterior articulation, suggest a close phylogenetic relationship to the Ordovician Chasmataspis. As such, Kiaeria represents the frst indication that the Chasmataspis-type chasmataspidid morphology persisted alongside the radiation of diploaspidids. This is also only the third chasmataspidid species recorded from the Silurian.