A Triassic mygalomorph spider from the northern Vosges, France

Abstract

The oldest fossil mygalomorph spider, from the Anîsian Grès à Voltzia of the northern Vosges. France, is described as Rosamygale grauvogeli gen. el sp. nov. The spider exhibits mainly ptesiornorphic characters. It is a tuberculote (sensu Raven 1985) and is placed in the Hexathelidae, with some reservations. A ground-dwelling spider, Rosamygale was an integral part of the halophilous terrestrial biota of the time. The spiders became entombed in the wet sediment of desiccating pools. The presence of a primitive tuberculote on the southern margins of the Zechstein Sea in the Middle Triassic is evidence for a pan-Pangaean distribution of the Mygalomorphae prior to the break-up of the supercontinent.