Spider Origin and Evolution in Fossil Environments

Abstract

The origin and evolution of arthropods is preserved in fossil amber and limestone inclusions. Amber with syninclusions represent fossil environments. The study used fossil arthropods Guangweicaris spinatus from Cambrian (ca. 518 Mya) and extinct spider-like Eophrynus sp. from Upper-Carboniferous Pennsylvanian (ca. 310 Mya) to represent the origin of arthropods. Then, spiders (Class Arachnida, Order Araneae), Families Linyphiidae, Hersiliidae in Burmese amber from Cretaceous (ca. 99 Mya), Family Linyphiidae in Baltic amber from Eocene (ca. 38-54 Mya) and Family Salticidae in Dominican amber from Oligocene (ca. 25-38 Mya) were used as the reference organisms to characterize lifecycle and environment with coexistence and possible interactions with other arthropods such as mosquitoes, ants, flies, beetles, fleas, lacewing and gnat. An inclusion with a land snail mollusk (Class Gastropoda, Order Architaenioglossa, Family Cyclophoridae) was also identified in Burmite. Fossils from different locations and epochs represent spider origin and evolution.