''Eophrynus'' is an extinct genus of

arachnid Arachnida () is a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroon ...

s from the extinct

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Trigonotarbida The order Trigonotarbida is a group of extinct arachnids whose fossil record extends from the late Silurian to the early Permian ( Pridoli to Sakmarian).Dunlop, J. A., Penney, D. & Jekel, D. 2020A summary list of fossil spiders and their relativ ...

, which lived during the

Late Carboniferous Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

period in Europe. The genus was first described in 1871 by

Henry Woodward (geologist) Henry Bolingbroke Woodward (24 November 1832 – 6 September 1921) was an English geologist and paleontologist known for his research on fossil crustaceans and other arthropods. Woodward was born Norwich, England on 24 November 1832 and was ...

. The name comes from ''Eo'', meaning 'dawn', and ''

Phrynus ''Phrynus'' is a genus of whip spiders found in tropical and subtropical regions, mostly in the new world. Appearance Like other species of the order Amblypygi, species of the genus ''Phrynus'' are dorso-ventrally flattened arachnids with elonga ...

'', an

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

genus of whip spider (order

Amblypygi Amblypygi is an ancient order of arachnid chelicerate arthropods also known as African cave-dwelling spiders, whip spiders and tailless whip scorpions (not to be confused with whip scorpions or vinegaroons that belong to the related order Thelyph ...

). Two species have been recognised: * ''

Eophrynus prestvicii ''Eophrynus prestvicii'' is an extinct species of arachnid belonging to the order Trigonotarbida. Historical background The first trigonotarbid was described in 1837 from the Coal Measures of Coalbrookdale in England by the famous English geolo ...

'' in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

* ''Eophrynus udus'' in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Species of ''Eophrynus'', as with other tribonotarbids, were similar to modern spiders but could not produce silk and the back-half of their body was made up of small plates. The English species, ''E. prestvici'', is known from a handful of good quality fossils preserved inside

siderite Siderite is a mineral composed of iron(II) carbonate (FeCO3). It takes its name from the Greek word σίδηρος ''sideros,'' "iron". It is a valuable iron mineral, since it is 48% iron and contains no sulfur or phosphorus. Zinc, magnesium and ...

concretions. Recent

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

imaging revealed that these arachnids were covered by protective spikes.

References

Trigonotarbids Carboniferous arachnids Carboniferous arthropods of Europe Mississippian first appearances Mississippian extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1871 {{paleo-arachnid-stub