Tiny individuals attached to a new Silurian arthropod suggest a unique mode of brood care
File(s)Spiral.docx (2.07 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Briggs, DEG
Siveter, DJ
Siveter, DJ
Sutton, MD
Legg, D
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The ∼430-My-old Herefordshire, United Kingdom, Lagerstätte has yielded a diversity of remarkably preserved invertebrates, many of which provide fundamental insights into the evolutionary history and ecology of particular taxa. Here we report a new arthropod with 10 tiny arthropods tethered to its tergites by long individual threads. The head of the host, which is covered by a shield that projects anteriorly, bears a long stout uniramous antenna and a chelate limb followed by two biramous appendages. The trunk comprises 11 segments, all bearing limbs and covered by tergites with long slender lateral spines. A short telson bears long parallel cerci. Our phylogenetic analysis resolves the new arthropod as a stem-group mandibulate. The evidence suggests that the tethered individuals are juveniles and the association represents a complex brooding behavior. Alternative possibilities—that the tethered individuals represent a different epizoic or parasitic arthropod—appear less likely.
Date Issued
2016-04-19
Date Acceptance
2016-03-07
Citation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2016, 113 (16), pp.4410-4415
ISSN
0027-8424
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Start Page
4410
End Page
4415
Journal / Book Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume
113
Issue
16
Copyright Statement
copyright © by the National Academy of Science
Sponsor
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Identifier
https://www.pnas.org/content/113/16/4410
Grant Number
NE/F01693X/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
arthropod
Silurian
brood care
juvenile
Herefordshire Lagerstatte
CIRRIPEDIA
HEREFORDSHIRE
CRUSTACEANS
FOSSILS
Herefordshire Lagerstätte
Silurian
arthropod
brood care
juvenile
Animals
Arthropods
England
Fossils
Animals
Arthropods
Fossils
England
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2016-04-04