Article: First British Mesozoic spider, from Cretaceous amber of the Isle of Wight, southern England
Publication: Palaeontology
Volume:
45
Part:
5
Publication Date:
September
2002
Page(s):
973
–
983
Author(s):
Paul A. Selden
Abstract
Cretamygale chasei, a new genus and species of spider, is described from a single specimen preserved in amber of early Barremian age from the Isle of Wight. This is the oldest (and second Cretaceous) amber spider to be described, and the first record of a Mesozoic spider from Britain. It belongs to the group Bipectina of the infraorder Mygalomorphae, and is tentatively referred to the family Nemesiidae. It is the oldest bipectinate, extending the record by around 90 myr, the only known fossil nemesiid, and the second oldest fossil mygalomorph.