Bright and shiny animals are all over the office , fromdeep ocean wormspecies toelectric blue tarantulasand evenbright jellyfish . Now , several ancientharvestmenhave been discovered in Germany , and the iridescence has even been preserved within the dodo .
This research marks the first dodo harvestmen discovered from the Eocene , roughly 48 million years ago . The specimens have the “ daddy tenacious leg ” appearance with humble bodies and long lank legs . The squad think that these ancient harvestman belong to the family Sclerosomatidae , which is still around today .
The specimen were encounter at the Messel Pit near Darmstadt in Hesse , Germany , which is usually more famous for revealing vertebrate fossils . In the in-between Eocene , the area would have been subtropical to tropic timberland . These specimens are the first dodo harvestmen to be described from the Messel Pit , though antecedently some arachnids and louse have also been find . They are the oldest fossil harvestmen from Germany , and the first fossil arachnid to have metallic opalescence preserved within the cuticle .
48 million years old and still shining.Image Credit: Bartel, C., et al. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments (2024)CC BY 4.0
In total , the team looked at nine specimens . They were capable to put the harvestmen in the syndicate Sclerosomatidea based on a few central detail such as the pedipalp claw being pectinate and the top side of the opisthosoma being fused into a individual plate .
The opalescence catch on the dodo remind the researchers of a living family of modern Phalangium opilio that belong to the Gagrellinae subfamily . presently , the subfamily contains around 1,000 coinage , across the Neotropics and northern Australia , and Malaysia .
The paper is write in the journalPalaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments .
Leiobunum messelense, showing as the complete specimen and the body close up.Image Credit: Bartel, C., et al (2024) Palaeobiodiversity and PalaeoenvironmentsCC BY 4.0
