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Gross morphology and the mode of life of two species of lobster from the Lower Cretaceous of England: Meyeria ornata (Phillips) and Meyerella magna (M'Coy)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

Martin I. Simpson  and
Richard Middleton
Martin I. Simpson
Affiliation:
Geology Department, Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland.
Richard Middleton
Affiliation:
Geology Department, Hull University, Hull HU6 7RY, England.
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Abstract

Macrurous decapod crustaceans are generally uncommon and are often incompletely preserved. However, at certain horizons in the Speeton Clay (Ryazanian–Albian) and Atherfield Clay (Lower Aptian) of Yorkshire and the Isle of Wight respectively, macrurans form the dominant element of the fauna. Two species in particular, Meyeria ornata (Phillips) and Meyerella magna (M'Coy), are not only very common in these formations, but are also very well preserved. Recent collections have yielded a large number of specimens of both species. This material is examined with the aid of SEM techniques, gross morphology is discussed, and the details of the exoskeletons are compared. In the case of M. magna, examples are figured which show traces of a colour pattern and the effects of regeneration on the first pereiopods. A discussion is included of the possible function of the appendages in M. magna and M. ornata, and of their other, unique features. Finally, the mode of life of both species is inferred from a consideration of their morphology, and of the evidence from their preservation, distribution and relationships with associated faunas.

Keywords

autotomycephalothoraxcuticular terraceendoskeletonepizoafossorialmacruranMecochiridaepleonitepleuraregenerationsubchela.
Type
Evidence for life habits from exceptionally preserved faunas
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 76 , Issue 2-3: Fossil Anthropods as Living Animals , 1985 , pp. 203 - 215
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1985

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