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| Fig. 2. Gondwanascorpio emzantsiensis gen. & sp. n. |
Abstract
The new genus and species, Gondwanascorpio emzantsiensis, are described in Scorpiones incertae sedis on the basis of fragments from the Famennian (Late Devonian) Waterloo Farm locality near Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. This finding adds to the sparse record of Late Devonian scorpion taxa and provides the first evidence of Palaeozoic scorpions from Gondwana. Material includes a complete chela with associated patella as well as a telson with associated metasomal segment V, resembling those of the Mesoscorpionina. This is the first record of a scorpion occurring at high latitudes. Its close resemblance to contemporary taxa from Laurasia and China is consistent with evidence from the type locality for increasingly uniform terrestrial ecosystems by the end of the Devonian, characterised by cosmopolitan plant genera such as the progymnosperm tree Archaeopteris. In part, this may reflect increasing proximity between Laurasia and Gondwana towards the end of the Devonian. These specimens also provide the earliest record of terrestrial animals in Gondwana.
Keywords: Scorpiones, Mesoscorpionina, Late Devonian, Famennian, Gondwana, South Africa, Waterloo Farm, chela, high palaeolatitude, new taxa, terrestrialisation.
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| Gondwanascorpio emzantsiensis gen. & sp. n.: holotype AM5700, general appearance and details of pedipalp chela articulating with patella |
Taxonomy
Order Scorpiones incertae sedis
Genus Gondwanascorpio gen. n.
Etymology: From Gondwana and Latin scorpio (scorpion). Masculine gender.
Type species: Gondwanascorpio emzantsiensis sp. n
Etymology: From genitive of isiXhosa umZantsi (south), which is sometimes used for
South Africa
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| Gondwanascorpio emzantsiensis gen. & sp. n.: general appearance and details of telson and metasomal segment |
Gess, R.W. 2013. The Earliest Record of Terrestrial Animals in Gondwana: A Scorpion from the Famennian (Late Devonian) Witpoort Formation of South Africa. African Invertebrates. 54 (2): 373–379.
