Lower Cretaceous spiders from the Sierra de Montsech, north-east Spain
Issue Date
1990Author
Selden, Paul A.
Publisher
The Palaeontological Association
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Published Version
http://palaeontology.palass-pubs.org/pdf/Vol%2033/Pages%20257-285.pdfMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Four new specimens of spiders (Chelicerata: Araneae), from Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian-Valanginian) lithographic limestones of the Sierra de Montsech, Lérida Province, north-east Spain, are described, as Cretaraneus vilaltae gen. et sp. nov., Macryphantes cowdeni gen. et sp. nov. (two specimens), and Palaeouloborus lacasae gen. et sp. nov. All belong to the infraorder Araneomorphae. Palaeouloborus is the oldest representative of the superfamily Deinopoidea, Cretaraneus is referred to the superfamily Araneoidea, and Macryphantes is
the oldest record of the superfamily Araneoidea, family Tetragnathidae (metine-tetragnathine-nephiline group). All three spiders were web weavers; Macryphantes and Palaeouloborus wove orb webs, and may have used a wrap attack to prey on the abundant contemporaneous insect life preserved in the Montsech deposit.
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Citation
Selden, P. A. 1990. Lower Cretaceous spiders from the Sierra de Montsech, north-east Spain. Palaeontology 33, 257–285.
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