2026/03/18 by Christian Bartel, Plamen Mitov, Jason A. Dunlop +1 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Fossil Insects in Amber #Spider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies #Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy
paper · pdf · doi:10.4202/app.01283.2025
openalex publication_date 2026/03/18 · openalex created_date 2026/03/20 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
The first fossil representatives of the harvestman subfamily Ortholasmatinae (Opiliones, Dyspnoi, Nemastomatidae) are described as Balticolasma wunderlichi gen. et sp. nov. One male is preserved in Eocene Baltic amber and a presumably conspecific female in Eocene Rovno amber (northwest Ukraine). Ortholasmatines are typically highly ornate arachnids, and for the first time with an amber harvestman we applied computed tomography using synchrotron radiation to investigate its three-dimensional morphology and surface structure in considerable detail. Some of its morphological characters, appear to be closer to extant Asian genera. In a wider biogeographic context, our amber record is a significant find for the Paleogene of Europe given that (i) it is another species apparently found in both Baltic and Rovno amber and (ii) all modern ortholasmatines are restricted to East Asia and North and Central America.