''Pseudogarypus synchrotron'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

pseudoscorpion Pseudoscorpions, also known as false scorpions or book scorpions, are small, scorpion-like arachnids belonging to the order Pseudoscorpiones, also known as Pseudoscorpionida or Chelonethida. Pseudoscorpions are generally beneficial to humans sin ...

in the family

Pseudogarypidae The Pseudogarypidae are a small family of pseudoscorpions. Most recent species are found in North America, while one species is endemic to Tasmania. Species * '' Neopseudogarypus'' J.C.H. Morris, 1948 :* '' Neopseudogarypus scutellatus'' J.C.H. ...

known from only two

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

fossils found in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. ''P. synchrotron'' is one of four species in the genus '' Pseudogarypus'' to have been described from fossils.

History and classification

''Pseudogarypus synchrotron'' is known from two separate fossils, the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

and paratype males, which are fossilized as inclusions in transparent chunks of

Baltic amber The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than 1 ...

. Both specimens were purchased from amber dealers, one in Lithuania and the other in the United States. As a result, the exact location from which the fossils were recovered is unknown. The holotype is a mostly complete adult that is positioned in the amber with its underside to the surface and its upper side turned inwards. The positioning leaves the upper side of the specimen hidden by distortions in the amber and another area on the underside is obscured by a large air bubble. The paratype male has a coating of whitish amber called "Baltic mould" across the surface of its underside and the amber encasing it showed a tendency to crack after polishing, possibly due to the evaporation of volatiles from the amber. The holotype is number ''236 934'' and currently housed in the fossil collection of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium while the paratype is in the personal collection of

Hans Henderickx Hans Henderickx (1961–2016) was a Belgian people, Belgian entomologist specializing in Invertebrates born in Mol, Belgium. Biography He started in 1984 as researcher in the Life Sciences electron microscope department of Janssen Pharmaceutica ( ...

. Baltic amber is approximately forty six million years old, having been deposited during

Lutetian The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage or age in the Eocene. It spans the time between . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it is sometimes referred to as the Midd ...

stage of the Middle Eocene. There is debate on what plant family the amber was produced by, with evidence supporting relatives of either an ''

Agathis ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely re ...

'' relative or a ''

Pseudolarix ''Pseudolarix'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the pine family Pinaceae containing three species, the extant ''Pseudolarix amabilis'' and the extinct species '' Pseudolarix japonica'' and '' Pseudolarix wehrii''. ''Pseudolarix'' species are c ...

'' relative. To get a more detailed view, the holotype specimen was subjected to two series of imaging scans at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The resulting stereolithographic models and 3-d digital reconstructions were then used for the detailed

species description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

. The type specimens were first studied by paleoarachnologist Hans Henderickx of the University of Antwerp with Paul Tafforeau and Carmen Soriano, both of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. Henderickx's 2011

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

of the new genus and species was published in the journal ''Palaeontologia Electronica''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''synchrotron'' is in reference to the

synchrotron A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator, descended from the cyclotron, in which the accelerating particle beam travels around a fixed closed-loop path. The magnetic field which bends the particle beam into its closed p ...

equipment that facilitated the description of areas of the specimen not visible to the naked eye.

Description

''Pseudogarypus synchrotron'' adults are mid-sized for ''Pseudogarypus'', with a body length of approximately , and show the distinctive body structuring that has horn-like protrusions, projecting ridges and a reticulate patterning to the carapace. This combination of features is found only in ''Pseudogarypus'', making the genus placement easily recognizable. The

chelae A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a pincer (biology), pincer-like organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods. The name comes from Ancient Greek , through New Latin '. The plural form is chelae. Legs bearing a chela are ...

are distinctly elongated with a length to width ratio of 5:1; only those of '' Pseudogarypus extensus'', also known from Baltic amber, are longer. The mobile finger of the chela has 24 teeth on its inner surface while the fixed finger has 33. The original coloration of the species is not identifiable due to the orange color-yellowish of the amber that encloses the specimens. The oval abdomen is longer than it is wide and has a generally teardrop shape. The thorax hosts two sets of horn-like protrusions, giving it an uneven outline with the larger "horns" placed to the rear.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7254802 Feaelloidea Pseudogarypidae Eocene arthropods Prehistoric life of Europe Fossil taxa described in 2012 †Pseudogarypus Baltic amber