Article Dans Une Revue Open Palaeontology Année : 2025

Re-assessment of Arthropleura mammata from the Moscovian of Northern France: new anatomical information and adaptations to terrestrial environments

Résumé

The fossil record of Arthropleura, distributed in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais coalfield (France) and some Belgian localities, is reassessed and compared to new material discovered in new localities of the Bruay Formation. Based on tergite ornamentation, the Bruay specimens are attributed to Arthropleura mammata. Two specimens are preserved with their head, allowing the description of the head anatomy of this species for the first time. We estimated the size of the most complete remains from the newly investigated localities, with a maximum length probably reaching 50 centimetres. The geographical extension of A. mammata can be extended to the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and to the Saarland coal basins. Some specimens from the Bruay Formation consist of K-plates, typical ventral plates of arthropleurids displaying well-preserved pierced tubercules. These pierced tubercules are also found in K-plates of Arthropleura cristata, found in the Mazon Creek Lagerstätte, and could represent spiracles similar to the ones found in millipedes. This suggests that Arthropleura possessed a tracheal system for respiration and, combined with other anatomical factors, would confirm it as a terrestrial arthropod.

Domaines

Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
Lhéritier_et_al_2025.pdf (13.53 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origine Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte
Licence

Dates et versions

hal-05105730 , version 1 (11-06-2025)

Licence

Identifiants

Citer

Mickaël Lhéritier, Bruno Vallois, Claudie Durand. Re-assessment of Arthropleura mammata from the Moscovian of Northern France: new anatomical information and adaptations to terrestrial environments. Open Palaeontology, 2025, 2 (1), pp.1-15. ⟨10.26034/la.opal.2025.6970⟩. ⟨hal-05105730⟩
236 Consultations
119 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

  • More