Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:30:57.981Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The first fossil record of the genus Phycosoma (Araneae, Theridiidae) from the lower Miocene Mexican amber, with the description of a new species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2022

Miguel Ángel García-Villafuerte Open the ORCID record for Miguel Ángel García-Villafuerte [Opens in a new window] ,
Gerardo Carbot-Chanona Open the ORCID record for Gerardo Carbot-Chanona [Opens in a new window] ,
Gustavo Rivera-Velázquez ,
Esteban Pineda-Diez de Bonilla  and
Wilfredo A. Matamoros Open the ORCID record for Wilfredo A. Matamoros [Opens in a new window]
Miguel Ángel García-Villafuerte*
Affiliation:
Maestría en Ciencias en Biodiversidad y Conservación de Ecosistemas Tropicales, Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, Libramiento Norte Poniente, Caleras Maciel, 29000, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México
Gerardo Carbot-Chanona
Affiliation:
Museo de Paleontología “Eliseo Palacios Aguilera,” Departamento de Paleontología, Secretaría de Medio Ambiente e Historia Natural, Calzada de Las Personas Ilustres, s/n, C.P. 29000, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México
Gustavo Rivera-Velázquez
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, Libramiento Norte Poniente, Caleras Maciel, 29000, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México
Esteban Pineda-Diez de Bonilla
Affiliation:
Museo de Zoología, Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas. Libramiento Norte Poniente, Caleras Maciel, 29000, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México
Wilfredo A. Matamoros
Affiliation:
Maestría en Ciencias en Biodiversidad y Conservación de Ecosistemas Tropicales, Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, Libramiento Norte Poniente, Caleras Maciel, 29000, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, Libramiento Norte Poniente, Caleras Maciel, 29000, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Theridiidae is a family of spiders with the fourth highest richness of extant species worldwide. Fossil Theridiidae is also the family of spiders with the largest number of Cretaceous, Eocene, and Miocene representatives. Phycosoma Pickard-Cambridge, 1880 is a theridiid genus without a fossil representative. In this study, we describe a new fossil species of Phycosoma, P. icti† n. sp., from an adult male specimen found in a piece of amber from the lower Miocene (ca. 23 Ma), from the Montecristo mines near Simojovel de Allende, Chiapas, Mexico. Phycosoma icti† n. sp. can be distinguished from all other Phycosoma males except P. corrugum by the long embolus partly covered by the conductor. In addition, it can be distinguished from P. corrugum by the oblique and constricted median apophysis; the narrow and pointed conductor; the long, curved, and bent theridiid tegular apophysis in its distal portion; and the prosoma ringed in the middle and along the ventral margin. Phycosoma icti† n. sp. represents the oldest recovered record of the genus. Extant Phycosoma species are still present in Chiapas, suggesting an extended evolutionary history of the genus in the region despite major geological changes over this time span in North America.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/28d74f14-0f80-405d-a165-f24749e15d05

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 96 , Issue 6 , November 2022 , pp. 1346 - 1353
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Paleontological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agnarsson, I., and Levi, H.W., 2017, Theridiidae, in Ubick, D., Paquin, P., Cushing, P.E., and Roth, V., eds., Spiders of North America, an Identificaction Manual: Keene, New Hampshire, American Arachnological Society, p. 256–269.Google Scholar
Agnarsson, I., Coddington, J.A., and Knoflach, B., 2007, Morphology and evolution of cobweb spider male genitalia (Araneae, Theridiidae): Journal of Arachnology, v. 35, p. 334–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allison, R.C., 1967, The Cenozoic stratigraphy of Chiapas, Mexico, with discussions of the classification of the Turritellidae and selected Mexican representatives [Ph.D. dissertation]: Berkeley, University of California, 225 p.Google Scholar
Álvarez-Padilla, F., 2012, Laboratorio de Aracnología Facultad de Ciencias UNAM. http://www.unamfcaracnolab.com [March 2022]Google Scholar
Benjamin, S.P., and Zschokke, S., 2003, Webs of theridiid spiders: construction, structure and evolution: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, v. 78, p. 293–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryant, E.B, 1933, New and little known spiders from the United States: Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, v. 74, p. 171–193.Google Scholar
Calvillo-Canadell, L., Cevallos-Ferriz, S.R.S., and Rico-Arce, L., 2010, Miocene Hymenaea flowers preserved in amber from Simojovel de Allende, Chiapas, Mexico: Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, v.160, p. 126–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carbot-Chanona, G.F., Rivera-Velázquez, G., Jiménez-Hidalgo, E., and Reynoso, V.H., 2020, The first Pan-Carettochelys turtle in the Neogene of the American continent and its paleobiogeographical relevance: Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 104, p. 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clerck, C., 1757, Aranei Svecici. Svenska spindlar, uti sina hufvud-slågter indelte samt under några och sextio särskildte arter beskrefne och med illuminerade figurer uplyste: Stockholmiae, Laurentius Salvius, 154 p.Google Scholar
Coddington, J.A., 1990, Ontogeny and homology in the male palpus of orb-weaving spiders and their relatives, with comments on phylogeny (Araneoclada: Araneoidea, Deinopoidea): Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, v. 496, p. 1–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delclòs, X., Peñalver, E., Ranaivosoa, V., and Solórzano-Kraemer, M.M., 2020, Unravelling the mystery of “Madagascar copal”: age, origin and preservation of a recent resin: PLOS One, 15, n. e0235695, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235695CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunlop, J.A., Penney, D., and Jekel, D., 2020, A summary list of fossil spiders and their relatives. http://wsc.nmbe.ch, version 20.5, [January 2021]Google Scholar
Ferrusquía-Villafranca, I., 2006, The first Paleogene mammal record of middle America: Simojovelhyus pocitosense (Helohyidae, Artiodactyla): Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, v. 26, p. 989–1001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzgerald, B.M., and Sirvid, P.J., 2003, The genus Trigonobothrys in New Zealand and a redescription of Achaearanea blattea (Theridiidae: Araneae): Tuhinga, v. 14, p. 25–33.Google Scholar
Fitzgerald, B.M., and Sirvid, P.J., 2004, Notes on the genus Phycosoma Cambridge, 1879, senior synonym of Trigonobothrys Simon, 1889 (Theridiidae: Araneae): Tuhinga, v. 15, p. 7–12.Google Scholar
Frost, S.H., and Langenheim, R.L., 1974, Cenozoic reef biofacies, Tertiary larger foraminifera and scleractinian corals from Chiapas, Mexico: DeKalb, Northern Illinois University Press, 388 p.Google Scholar
Gao, C.X., and Li, S.Q., 2014, Comb-footed spiders (Araneae: Theridiidae) in the tropical rainforest of Xishuangbanna, Southwest China: Zoological Systematics, v. 39, no. 1, p. 1–135.Google Scholar
García-Villafuerte, M.Á., 2006, A new fossil Episinus (Araneae, Theridiidae) from Tertiary Chiapas amber, Mexico: Revista Ibérica de Aracnologia, v. 13, p. 120–125.Google Scholar
García-Villafuerte, M.Á., 2018a, Primer registro fósil de un lapsino (Araneae, Salticidae) en el ámbar de Chiapas, México: Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, v. 70, p. 689–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
García-Villafuerte, M.Á., 2018b, Un posible caso de depredación preservado en ámbar de Chiapas: una araña (Araneae: Theridiidae) y su presa, una mosca (Díptera, Dolichopodidae): Revista Ibérica de Aracnología, v. 33, p. 55–62.Google Scholar
García-Villafuerte, M.Á., 2020, Una “araña pirata” (Araneae: Mimetidae) en el ámbar del Mioceno temprano y actualización del listado de arañas fósiles para Chiapas, México: Acta Biólogica Colombiana, v. 25, no. 1, p. 155–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
García-Villafuerte, M.Á., and Brescovit, A.D., 2019, Nuevo registro de sinantropía de Filistatoides insignis (Araneae: Filistatidae) en México y actualización del listado de arañas actuales de Chiapas: Acta Zoológica Mexicana, v. 35, p. 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, A., 1993, Contribution toward a Tertiary palynostratigraphy from Jamaica: the status of Tertiary paleobotanical studies in northern Latin America and preliminary analysis of the Guys Hill Member (Chapelton Formation, middle Eocene) of Jamaica, in Wright, R.M., and Robinson, E., eds., Biostratigraphy of Jamaica: Geological Society of America, Memoirs, v. 182, p. 443–461.Google Scholar
Ibarra-Núñez, G., Maya-Morales, J., and Chamé-Vázquez, D., 2011, Las arañas del bosque mesófilo de montaña de la Reserva de la Biosfera Volcán Tacaná, Chiapas, México: Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad, v. 82, p. 1183–1193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inafed, 2017, Enciclopedia de los Municipios y Delegaciones de México: Simojovel, Chiapas. http://www.inafed.gob.mx/work/enciclopedia/EMM07chiapas/municipios/07081a.html [April 2015]Google Scholar
Keyserling, E., 1886, Die Spinnen Amerikas. Theridiidae: Nürnberg, Bauer and Raspe, p. 295.Google Scholar
Koch, C.L., and Berendt, G.C., 1854, Die im Bernstein befindlichen Myriapoden, Arachniden und Apteren der Vorwelt, in Berendt, G.C., ed., Die in Bernstein befindlichen organischen Reste der Vorwelt gesammelt in Verbindung mit mehreren Bearbeitetet und Herausgegeben 1: Berlin, Nicolai, p. 124.Google Scholar
Latreille, P.A., 1806, Araneae, in Genera crustaceorum et insectorum: Paris, A. Koenig, p. 82–127.Google Scholar
Levi, H.W., 1953, New and rare Dipoena from Mexico and Central America (Araneae, Theridiidae): American Museum Novitates, v. 1639, p. 1–11.Google Scholar
Levi, H.W., 1961, Evolutionary trends in the development of palpal sclerites in the spider family Theridiidae: Journal of Morphology, v. 108, p. 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levi, H.W., 1983, On the value of genitalic structures and coloration in separating species of widow spiders (Latrodectus sp.) (Arachnida: Araneae: Theridiidae): Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg, v. 26, p. 195–200.Google Scholar
Liu, J., May-Collado, L.J., Pekár, S., and Agnarsson, I., 2016, A revised and dated phylogeny of cobweb spiders (Araneae, Araneoidea, Theridiidae): a predatory Cretaceous lineage diversifying in the era of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, v. 94, p. 658–675.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malik, S., Das, S.K., and Siliwal, M., 2016, First report of cobweb spider Phycosoma altum (Keyserling, 1886) from Asia: Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, v. 4, p. 1094–1095.Google Scholar
Perrilliat, M., Vega, F., and Coutiño, M., 2010, Miocene mollusks from the Simojovel area in Chiapas, southwestern Mexico: Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 30, p. 111–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petrunkevitch, A.I., 1942, A study of amber spiders: Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, v. 34, p. 119–464.Google Scholar
Petrunkevitch, A.I., 1963, Chiapas amber spiders: University of California Publications in Entomology, v. 31, p. 1–40.Google Scholar
Petrunkevitch, A.I., 1971, Chiapas amber spiders 2: University of California Publications in Entomology, v. 63, p. 1–44.Google Scholar
Pickard-Cambridge, O., 1880, On some new and rare spiders from New Zealand, with characters of four new genera: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, v. 47, p. 681–703.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pickard-Cambridge, O., 1898, Arachnida. Araneida, in Biologia Centrali-Americana, Zoology: London, p. 233–288.Google Scholar
Poinar, G.O. Jr., and Brown, A.E., 2002, Hymenaeae mexicana sp. nov. (Leguminosae: Caesalpiniodeae) from Mexican amber indicates Old World connections: Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, v. 139, p. 125–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, S.D., and Eastmond, D.A., 1982, Euryopis coki (Theridiidae), a spider that preys on Pogonomyrmex ants: Journal of Arachnology, v. 10, p. 275–277.Google Scholar
Roberts, M.J., 1979, A study of the spiders Dipoena alta Keyserling, D. lineatipes Bryant and a new species D. jamesi (Araneae: Theridiidae): Journal of Arachnology, v. 7, p. 199–222.Google Scholar
Rodrigues, E.N.L., 2013, Six new species, complementary descriptions and new records from the Neotropical Region of the spider genus Dipoena (Araneae: Theridiidae): Zootaxa, v. 3750, https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3750.1.1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saaristo, M.I., 2006, Theridiid or cobweb spiders of the granitic Seychelles Islands (Araneae, Theridiidae): Phelsuma, v. 14, p. 49–89.Google Scholar
Serrano-Sánchez, M.d.L., Hegna, T.A., Schaaf, P., Pérez, L., Centeno-García, E., and Vega, F.J., 2015, The aquatic and semiaquatic biota in Miocene amber from the Campo la Granja mine (Chiapas, Mexico): paleoenvironmental implications: Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 62, p. 243–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon, E., 1889, Etudes arachnologiques. 21e Mémoire. XXXIII. Descriptions de quelques espèces receillies au Japon, par A. Mellotée: Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, v. 6, no. 8, p. 248–252.Google Scholar
Solórzano-Kraemer, M.M., 2007, Systematic, palaeoecology, and palaeobiogeography of the insect fauna from Mexican amber: Palaeontographica Abteilung A, v. 282, p. 1–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solórzano-Kraemer, M.M., 2010, Mexican amber, in Penney, D., ed., Biodiversity of Fossils in Amber from the Major World Deposits: Manchester, Siri Scientific Press, p. 42–56.Google Scholar
Solórzano-Kraemer, M.M., and Brown, B., 2017, Dohrniphora (Diptera: Phoridae) from the Miocene Mexican and Dominican ambers with a paleobiological reconstruction: Insect Systematics and Evolution, v. 49, p. 299–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solórzano-Kraemer, M.M., and Mohrig, W., 2007, Schwenckfeldina archoica sp. nov. (Diptera, Sciaridae) from the middle Miocene Mexican amber: Alavesia, v. 1, p. 105–108.Google Scholar
Sundevall, C.J., 1833, Conspectus Arachnidum: Londini Gothorum, C.F. Berling, 39 p.Google Scholar
Tso, I.M., Zhu, M.S., and Zhang, J.X., 2005, A new species of the genus Dipoena from Taiwan (Araneae: Theridiidae): Acta Arachnologica, v. 54, p. 21–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Umeda, Y., Shinkai, A., and Miyashita, T., 1996, Prey composition of three Dipoena species (Araneae: Theridiidae) specializing on ants: Acta Arachnologica, v. 45, no. 1, p. 95–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanuytven, H., 2021, The Theridiidae of the world. A key to the genera with their diagnosis and a study of the body length of all known species: Newsletter of the Belgian Arachnological Society, v. 35, sup., p. 1–363.Google Scholar
Vega, F.J., Nyborg, T., Coutiño, M.A., Solé, J., and Hernández-Monzón, O., 2009, Neogene Crustacea from Southeastern Mexico: Bulletin of the Mizunami Fossil Museum, v. 35, p. 51–69.Google Scholar
Webb, S.D., Beatty, B.L., and Poinar, G. Jr., 2003, New evidence of Miocene Protoceratidae including a new species from Chiapas, Mexico: Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, v. 279, p. 348–367.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Spider Catalog, 2022, World Spider Catalog Version 23: Natural History Museum Bern, http://wsc.nmbe.ch [March 2022]Google Scholar
Wunderlich, J., 1988, Die fossilen Spinnen im dominikanischen Bernstein: Beiträge zur Araneologie, v. 2, p. 1–378.Google Scholar
Wunderlich, J., 2008, On extant and fossil (Eocene) European comb-footed spiders (Araneae: Theridiidae), with notes on their subfamilies, and with descriptions of new taxa: Beiträge zur Araneologie, v. 5, p. 140–469.Google Scholar
Wunderlich, J., 2011, Some fossil spiders in Dominican amber (Araneae: Hersiliidae, Theridiidae, Gnaphosidae): Beiträge zur Araneologie, v. 6, p. 461–471.Google Scholar
Wunderlich, J., 2012, New recent species of spiders in copal from Madagascar, and on the relationships of the Copaldictyninae Wunderlich 2004 (Araneae: Linyphiidae, Theridiidae, Dictynidae, and Titanoecidae): Beiträge zur Araneologie, v. 7, p. 75–88.Google Scholar
Wunderlich, J., 2015, On the evolution and the classification of spiders, the Mesozoic spider faunas, and descriptions of new Cretaceous taxa mainly in amber from Myanmar (Burma) (Arachnida: Araneae): Beiträge zur Araneologie, v. 9, p. 21–408.Google Scholar
Wunderlich, J., 2021, Description of new fossils spiders (Araneae) in late (mid) Cretaceous Burmese (Kachin) amber with focus on the superfamilies Palpimanoidea and Deinopoidea and members of the RTA-clade, as well as remarks on palaeobehaviour, palaeofauna, taxonomy and phylogenetics: Beiträge zur Araneologie, v. 14, p. 25–262.Google Scholar
Wunderlich, J., and Müller, P., 2018, Fossil spiders (Araneae) in Cretaceous Burmese amber: Beiträge zur Araneologie, v. 11, p. 1–177.Google Scholar
Yang, S.F., Irfan, M., Liu, P., and Peng, X.J., 2019, Two new species of Dipoena Thorell, 1869 (Araneae, Theridiidae) from Wuling Mountains, China: Turkish Journal of Zoology, v. 43, no. 6, p. 598–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yin, C.M., Peng, X.J., Yan, H.M., Bao, Y.H., Xu, X., Tang, G., Zhou, Q.S., and Liu, P., 2012, Fauna Hunan: Araneae in Hunan, China: Changsha, Hunan Science and Technology Press, 1590 p.Google Scholar
Yoshida, H., 2002, A revision of the Japanese genera and species of the subfamily Hadrotarsinae (Araneae: Theridiidae): Acta Arachnologica, v. 51, p. 7–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, F., and Zhang, B.S., 2012, Spiders of the genus Phycosoma O. P.-Cambridge, 1879 (Araneae: Theridiidae) from Hainan Island, China: Zootaxa, v. 3339, https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3339.1.2CrossRefGoogle Scholar