Cast of the holotype specimen of Megarachne exhibited at Royal Ontario Museum
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Chelicerata
Order:
†Eurypterida
Superfamily:
†Mycteropoidea
Family:
†Mycteroptidae
Genus:
†Megarachne Hünicken, 1980
Species:
†M. servinei
Binomial name
†Megarachne servinei
Hünicken, 1980
Megarachne is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Megarachne have been discovered in deposits of Late Carboniferous age, from the Gzhelian stage, in the Bajo de Véliz Formation of San Luis, Argentina. The fossils of the single and type species M. servinei have been recovered from deposits that had once been a freshwater environment. The generic name, composed of the Ancient Greek μέγας (megas) meaning "great" and Ancient Greek ἀράχνη (arachne) meaning "spider", translates to "great spider", because the fossil was misidentified as a large prehistoric spider.
With a body length of 54 cm (21 in), Megarachne was a medium-sized eurypterid. If the original identification as a spider had been correct, Megarachne would have been the largest known spider to have ever lived. Eurypterids such as Megarachne are often called "sea scorpions", but the strata in which Megarachne has been found indicates that it dwelled in freshwater and not in marine environments.
Megarachne was similar to other eurypterids within the Mycteropoidea, a rare group known primarily from South Africa and Scotland. The mycteropoids had evolved a specialized method of feeding referred to as sweep-feeding. This involved raking through the substrate of riverbeds in order to capture and eat smaller invertebrates. Despite only two specimens having been recovered, Megarachne represents the most complete eurypterid discovered in Carboniferous deposits in South America so far. Due to their fragmentary fossil record and similarities between the genera, some researchers have hypothesized that Megarachne and two other members of its family, Mycterops and Woodwardopterus, represent different developmental stages of a single genus.
Megarachne is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Megarachne have been discovered in deposits of Late Carboniferous...
straight down and do not cross each other (as they do in the araneomorphs). Megarachne servinei was thought to be a giant mygalomorph from the Upper Carboniferous...
fossil species. The production team had intended for it to represent Megarachne, which was originally described as a giant spider but was during the production...
were also diverse, and are represented by such genera as Adelophthalmus, Megarachne (originally misinterpreted as a giant spider, hence its name) and the...
genera included in the Mycteroptidae, Mycterops, Woodwardopterus and Megarachne might represent different ontogenetic stages of each other based on the...
oldest mygalomorph, Rosamygale, was described from the Triassic of France. Megarachne servinei from the Permo-Carboniferous was once thought to be a giant mygalomorph...
example is the suggestion that almost all the members of the Mycteroptidae (Megarachne, Mycterops and Woodwardopterus) might represent ontogenic stages of a...
genera included in the Mycteroptidae - Mycterops, Woodwardopterus, and Megarachne - might represent different ontogenetic stages of each other based on...
Originally, Megarachne (meaning "great spider" in Ancient Greek) was classified as a member of the Mesothelae, until further examination has proven to...
Woodwardopteridae inside Mycteropoidea, probably as a sister taxon of Megarachne. W. scarabrosus had carapace length about 15 cm (5.9 in) and estimated...
been reclassified as a basal eurypterine. Drepanopterus Hibbertopterus Megarachne Eurypterid Eurypterina List of eurypterids Animals portal Biology portal...
Lamontopterus on it. 1980 Mario Hünicken described the new genus and species Megarachne servinei as a mygalomorph spider. 1981 Barry S. Kues and Kenneth K. Kietzke...
Global Information
