Melbournopterus

Melbournopterus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	?Merostomata
Order:	?Eurypterida
Family:	?Stylonuridae
Genus:	Melbournopterus Caster & Kjellesvig-Waering, 1953

Melbournopterus is a genus of prehistoric chelicerate or brachiopod, known from the Upper Silurian of Australia. It is of uncertain taxonomic placement within the subphylum Chelicerata.^[1] Lamsdell, Percival and Poschmann (2013) argued that Melbournopterus crossotus is not a chelicerate at all, and interpreted its type specimen as the dorsal valve of a craniate brachiopod.^[2]

Description

If Melbournopterus is a chelicerate, it is distinguished by its prosoma (head), which is bell-shaped and emarginate in front, with subrectangular compound eyes located posteriorly on the prosoma, which strongly converge anteriorly. It was small in size, and its abdomen and appendages are unknown.^[3]

Species

• Melbournopterus Caster & Kjellesvig-Waering, 1953
  • M. crossotus, Caster & Kjellesvig-Waering, 1953, Upper Silurian, Australia

References

1. Jason A. Dunlop, David Penney, & Denise Jekel; with additional contributions from Lyall I. Anderson, Simon J. Braddy, James C. Lamsdell, Paul A. Selden, & O. Erik Tetlie (2011). "A summary list of fossil spiders and their relatives". In Norman I. Platnick. [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html The world spider catalog, version 11.5] (PDF). American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved May 21, 2011. External link in |title= (help)
2. James C. Lamsdell, Ian G. Percival and Markus Poschmann (2013). "The problematic 'chelicerate' Melbournopterus crossotus Caster & Kjellesvig-Waering: a case of mistaken identity". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. in press. doi:10.1080/03115518.2013.764681.
3. Størmer, L 1955. Merostomata. Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part P Arthropoda 2, Chelicerata, P39.