Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

Nature Research, Nature, 6961(425), p. 916-916, 2003

DOI: 10.1038/425916a

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Preserved organs of Devonian harvestmen

Journal article published in 2003 by Jason A. Dunlop ORCID, Lyall I. Anderson, Hans Kerp, Hagen Hass
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) are a common and widespread group, the most familiar of which are recognizable by their small, rounded bodies and long, slender legs ('daddy long-legs'). Their fossil record is generally poor, but new and exceptionally well-preserved harvestmen have been found in the famous 400-million-year-old Rhynie cherts of Scotland. These remarkable and surprisingly modern-looking fossils include male and female genital structures (a penis and ovipositor) and branching tracheal tubes - providing the oldest unequivocal evidence in any arthropod for air-breathing through the tracheae.