Maiocercus
Ancient genus of early Arachnids
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maiocercus celticus is a species of early trigonotarbid arachnid from the Upper Carboniferous of Westhoughton, Lancashire, UK. The species was first described in 1902, with a "new species" being described in 1911 (M. orbicularis) which has been proven as being a junior synonym of M. celticus.[1][2]
| Maiocercus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| Fossil of Maiocercus celticus located in Musee d'Histoire Naturelle, Brussels, Belgium. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | †Trigonotarbida |
| Family: | †Anthracomartidae |
| Genus: | †Maiocercus Pocock, 1902 |
| Species: | †M. celticus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Maiocercus celticus (Pocock, 1902) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
M. celticus is the type species of the genus Maiocercus.[3]
Originally zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock compared M. celticus to Brachypyge, with later evidence showing that Brachypyge had "opisthosoma which were much longer than wide; with the pleural laminæ of the second and third pleura-bearing terga being inclined slightly backwards" (Brachypyge) with Maiocercus having the "opisthosoma much wider than long; the pleural laminæ of the first, second, third, and fourth sterna being inclined slightly forwards".[4]
The original drawing which showed Maiocercus described a pitting on the underside of the slightly forwarded laminæ, with a non-uniform concavity on the outer margins of them. The concavity is most well-marked in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth somites, with the opposite happening on the second, third and fourth somites.[5]
