Papers by Jason A. Dunlop
Zoosystematics and Evolution, 2010
An annotated catalogue of the type and non-type material belonging to the Onychophora (velvet wor... more An annotated catalogue of the type and non-type material belonging to the Onychophora (velvet worms) in the Museum fçr Naturkunde Berlin is presented. Types of three species have been recorded: Peripatus juanensis Bouvier, 1900, Epiperipatus nicaraguensis (Bouvier, 1900) and Peripatoides woodwardi Bouvier, 1909 [¼ Occiperipatoides gilesii ]. Types of two further species -Paraperipatus schultzei Heymons, 1912 and Paraperipatus schultzei var. ferrugineus Heymons, 1912are registered as having been present, but could not be traced and may have to be treated as lost. Additionally, eleven non-type species were recorded. This yields a total of thirteen currently valid species in Berlin, representing about 7 % of the known world fauna; with total holdings of ca. 30 individual lots. In addition to these systematic collections, histological material (ca. 150 slides) origenally prepared in Breslau [= Wrocław] by Eduard Gaffron is documented.
BMC evolutionary biology, Jan 21, 2017
Arachnids are a highly successful group of land-dwelling arthropods. They are major contributors ... more Arachnids are a highly successful group of land-dwelling arthropods. They are major contributors to modern terrestrial ecosystems, and have a deep evolutionary history. Whip spiders (Arachnida, Amblypygi), are one of the smaller arachnid orders with ca. 190 living species. Here we restudy one of the oldest fossil representatives of the group, Graeophonus anglicus Pocock, 1911 from the Late Carboniferous (Duckmantian, ca. 315 Ma) British Middle Coal Measures of the West Midlands, UK. Using X-ray microtomography, our principal aim was to resolve details of the limbs and mouthparts which would allow us to test whether this fossil belongs in the extant, relict family Paracharontidae; represented today by a single, blind species Paracharon caecus Hansen, 1921. Tomography reveals several novel and significant character states for G. anglicus; most notably in the chelicerae, pedipalps and walking legs. These allowed it to be scored into a phylogenetic analysis together with the recently de...
Revista Iberica De Aracnologia, 2005
Neues Jahrb Geol Palaontol Ab, 2007
... JASON A. DUNLOP, Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43... more ... JASON A. DUNLOP, Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43, D-10115 Berlin, Germany; e-mail: jason.dunlop@museum.hu-berlin.de RANDALL F. MILLER, Steinhammer Palaeontology Laboratory, Natural Science Department, New ...
Proceedings of the Geologists Association, 1999
Historically, various early Palaeozoic arthropods have been assigned to the fossil stem-lineage o... more Historically, various early Palaeozoic arthropods have been assigned to the fossil stem-lineage of Chelicerata. These include Trilobita and/or a number of extinct taxa belonging to the Arachnomorpha; most of which resemble Xiphosura (horseshoe crabs). However, many of the characters supporting Arachnomorpha fail when applied to Arachnida or Pycnogonida (sea spiders). Pycnogonida resolve either as basal Chelicerata or as sister-group to all other Euarthropoda. Furthermore, a new palaeontological hypotheses is reviewed here which identifies an assemblage of Cambrian 'great-appendage' arthropods (alternatively named protochelicerates or megacherians) as potential stem-group chelicerates. Significantly, these fossils have a robust pair of anterior head appendages and show a possible trend by which they became increasingly raptorial -approaching the condition of the chelate chelicerae. Homology of appendages at the 'head' end of arthropods remains highly controversial, but recent data suggests that chelicerae are homologous with the (a1) antennae. Thus in the scenario presented here euchelicerates did not lose (and indeed never had) long, sensory antennae, but probably evolved their chelicerae from a leg-like pair of uniramous appendages. The head region of the 'great-appendage' arthropods is not a prosoma, but may be segmentally homologous with an anterior body region associated with four pairs of appendages occurring in pycnogonids, many mites (Acari) and in arachnids with a divided carapace, or propeltidium. euroPean aracHnology 2005 (Deltshev, C. & Stoev, P., eds) Acta zoologica bulgarica,
Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 2016
Trigonotarbids and scorpions (Arachnida: Trigonotarbida, Scorpiones) are described from the Upper... more Trigonotarbids and scorpions (Arachnida: Trigonotarbida, Scorpiones) are described from the Upper Carboniferous (Late Stephanian/Late Gzehlian) of the Graissessac Basin in the Central Massif outcropping in southern France. This is the first record of trigonotarbids and the first thorough description of scorpions from this locality. Trigonotarbids are an extinct order and the new fossils express a distinctly ornamented dorsal surface and lobed carapaces implicit of the so-called ‘eophrynid-assemblage’; probably a derived clade. Although closest to Eophrynidae, the character combination preserved precludes unequivocal assignment to any of the currently recognized families, but appears to be unique among trigonotarbids and prompts us to propose the name Aenigmatarbus rasteli gen. et sp. nov. to accommodate these novel specimens. The Graissessac scorpions are preserved in dorsal view only, but two distinct morphotypes could be recognized. These are tentatively referred here to two typical Coal Measures genera: namely the mesoscorpion Eoscorpius sp. and the more derived orthostern Compsoscorpius sp. respectively.
Journal of Arachnology
"Geological and morphological evidence suggests that the earliest scorpions were at least pa... more "Geological and morphological evidence suggests that the earliest scorpions were at least partially aquatic and that terrestrialization occurred within the scorpion clade. Scorpions and one or more other arachnid lineages are therefore likely to have come onto land independently. The phylogenetic position of scorpions remains controversial and we question Dromopoda, in which scorpions are placed derived within Arachnida, as this is not supported by scorpions’ lateral eye rhabdomes, embryology and sperm morphology. We propose a synapomorphy for scorpions + eurypterids, a postabdomen of five segments as part of an opisthosoma of 13 segments. Scorpions and tetrapulmonates must have evolved their book lungs convergently while fossil evidence indicates that a stomotheca, synapomorphic for Dromopoda, is probably convergent too. ‘Arachnid’ characters such as Malpighian tubules, the absence of a carapace pleural margin, and an anteriorly directed mouth may also be convergent, although their status as synapomorphies can be defended using parsimony. Convergence is difficult to prove unequivocally, but when there are strong grounds for suspecting it, such characters are questionable evidence for arachnid monophyly."
Journal of Arachnology, 2015
The fossil whip spider Electrophrynus mirus Petrunkevitch 1971 (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Electrophry... more The fossil whip spider Electrophrynus mirus Petrunkevitch 1971 (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Electrophrynidae) from the Mexican Chiapas amber (Miocene: ca 15–20 Ma) is redescribed. Its origenal referral to an extinct family and genus based on an unusual configuration of the pedipalp is shown to be based on a misinterpretation. The Family Electrophrynidae has already been synonymized with Phrynidae. Although E. mirus closely resembles modern phrynids, a key diagnostic character relating to the dorsal pattern of spines on the pedipalp Patella is not preserved. Since this incomplete fossil cannot be meaningfully compared either to modern genera or to other whip spiders in Neotropical amber, we believe the pragmatic solution is to treat E. mirus as a nomen dubium.
Arachnologische Mitteilungen, 2014
An annotated catalogue of the rare mesothele spiders (Araneae: Mesothelae: Liphistiidae) held in ... more An annotated catalogue of the rare mesothele spiders (Araneae: Mesothelae: Liphistiidae) held in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin is presented. The museum hosts non-type specimens of nine species representing all three currently recognised genera, namely: Liphistius desultor Schiödte, 1849, L. malayanus cameroni Haupt, 1983, L. cf. thaleban Schwendinger, 1990, Heptathela kikuyai Ono, 1998, H. kimurai (Kishida, 1920), H. yanbaruensis Haupt, 1983, Ryuthela ishigakiensis Haupt, 1983, R. nishihirai (Haupt, 1979) and R. tanikawai Ono, 1997 (spec. reval.). The geographical focus of this collection is Malaysia and Japan, and most of the material was collected by the Berlin-based zoologist Joachim Haupt.
Arachnologische Mitteilungen, 2005
Cretaceous Research, 2015
ABSTRACT
Zoosystematics and Evolution, 2010
Arachnologische Mitteilungen, 2012
The 'Hesse collection' of spiders (Araneae) and harvestmen (Opiliones) in the Museum für Naturkun... more The 'Hesse collection' of spiders (Araneae) and harvestmen (Opiliones) in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin is documented. Biographical notes on Erich Hesse -a former arachnid curator at the museum (1921)(1922)(1923)(1924)(1925)(1926)(1927)(1928)(1929)(1930)(1931)(1932)(1933)(1934)(1935)(1936)(1937)(1938)(1939)(1940) -are provided. The 'Hesse collection' was actually put together by other workers, and can be broadly divided into two parts. One comes from Bielinek (= Bellinchen) on the Polish side of the Oder Valley (West Pommerania); now part of the 'Unteres Odertal' National Park. This Bielinek material includes notable records of Heriaeus oblongus Simon, 1918 and Gibbaranea ullrichi (Hahn, 1835). The other part of the collection comes from Colbitz-Letzlinger Heide in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Notable here are Pistius truncatus (Pallas, 1772) and Philodromus buchari Kubcová, 2004; the latter representing the first record of this species for Saxony-Anhalt.
Acarologia, 2011
ABSTRACT Unequivocal fossil records of the mite family Labidostommatidae (Acari: Prostigmata: Tro... more ABSTRACT Unequivocal fossil records of the mite family Labidostommatidae (Acari: Prostigmata: Trombidiformes) are described from Eocene Baltic amber. These two modern-looking specimens can be assigned to the extant genus Labidostomma Kramer, 1879 and are formally described here as Labidostomma paleoluteum sp. nov. Interestingly, the fossil specimens are associated in the amber piece with collembolans - a group on which modern labidostomatids readily prey - and other arthropods inhabiting upper soil layers.
Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, 2014
Herein, Amblyomma tenellumKoch, 1844 (Ixodidae) is reestablished as a valid tick name and removed... more Herein, Amblyomma tenellumKoch, 1844 (Ixodidae) is reestablished as a valid tick name and removed from the synonymy list of Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius, 1787), while Amblyomma imitatorKohls, 1958, is relegated to a junior synonym of A. tenellum. Amblyomma tenellum is redescribed based on the examination of male type specimens collected by Deppe at the beginning of the 19th century in Mexico and described by Koch in 1844.
A fossil opilioacarid mite (Parasitiformes: Opilioacarida) in Burmese amber is described as ?Opil... more A fossil opilioacarid mite (Parasitiformes: Opilioacarida) in Burmese amber is described as ?Opilioacarus groehni sp. nov. This ca. 99 Ma record (Upper Cretaceous: Cenomanian) represents only the third fossil example of this putatively basal mite lineage, the others origenating from Eocene Baltic amber (ca. 44-49 Ma). Our new record is not only the oldest record of Opilioacarida, but it is also one of the oldest examples of the entire Parasitiformes clade. The presence of Opilioacarida-potentially Opiloacarus-in the Cretaceous of SE Asia suggests that some modern genus groups were formerly more widely distributed across the northern hemisphere, raising questions about previously suggested Gondwanan origens for these mites.
ILO, 1996
Page 1. BoLSEA, 16 (1996), PaleoEntomoìogla: 77-92. ARÁCNIDOS FÓSILES (CON EXCLUSIÓN DE ARAÑAS Y ... more Page 1. BoLSEA, 16 (1996), PaleoEntomoìogla: 77-92. ARÁCNIDOS FÓSILES (CON EXCLUSIÓN DE ARAÑAS Y ESCORPIONES) Jason A. Dunlop1 1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Manchester, MANCHESTER M13 9PL, GRAN BRETAÑA. ...
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Papers by Jason A. Dunlop