Mesozoic cribellate spiders (Araneae: Deinopoidea) from China

Abstract

This study describes a new spider with the most numerous specimens (c. two-thirds) known from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou, China, as Zhizhu daohugouensis gen. et sp. nov, together with a related form from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Huangbanjigou, Zhizhu jeholensis sp. nov., and another, unnamed, specimen known only from an immature female from Daohugou. These spiders are all placed in the stem-Deinopoidea. Two recent studies of the phylogeny of spiders using phylogenomics have shown that deinopoids may be closer to non-orb-weaving cribellates than to ecribellate orbicularians, and that if the evolution of the orb web is a unique event, then it occurred deeper in time, perhaps among early Mesozoic cribellates such as these. The new spiders described here contribute to knowledge of the biodiversity and palaeoecology of the forested lake margins of the North China Block in mid-Mesozoic times.

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:53C1BDD0-C9A9-4E9D-8515-A57BE437581F

Keywords:

• Cretaceous
• Daohugou
• Huangbanjigou
• Jehol biota
• Jiulongshan Formation
• Jurassic
• Yixian Formation

Acknowledgements

We thank Drs Taiping Gao and Qiang Yang for their help in collecting spider fossils; and Heather Shinogle and Prem Thapa (Biomedical Services Laboratories, University of Kansas) for help with the SEM study. The suggestions of two anonymous referees and the Associate Editor were most helpful. This work was supported by an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Award to PAS; and the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) [2012CB821906]; the National Nature Science Foundation of China [Nos. 31230065, 41272006]; Project of Great Wall Scholar and KEY project of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education [grants KZ201310028033].