Late Ordovician eurypterid preserves oldest euchelicerate musculature in pyrite

Author:

Bicknell Russell D. C.12ORCID,Gaines Robert R.3ORCID,Hopkins Melanie J.1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Division of Paleontology (Invertebrates), American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA

2. Palaeoscience Research Centre, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia

3. Geology Department, Pomona College, 185 E. Sixth Street, Claremont, CA 91711, USA

Abstract

Pyritization of soft tissues of invertebrates is rare in the fossil record. In New York State, it occurs in black shales of the Lorraine Group (Late Ordovician), the best-known example of which is Beecher's Trilobite Bed. Exceptional preservation at the quarry where this bed is exposed allowed detailed examination of trilobite and ostracod soft-tissue anatomy. Here, we present the first example of a eurypterid (sea scorpion) currently ascribed to Carcinosomatidae from this deposit that also preserves the first evidence for mesosomal musculature in eurypterids. This specimen demonstrates that eurypterid musculature can be preserved in pyrite and evidences the oldest example of euchelicerate muscles within the fossil record. Sulfur isotope data illustrate that pyrite rapidly replicated muscle tissue in the early burial environment, prior to the pyritization of biomineralized exoskeleton and cuticular trilobite limbs. This discovery therefore expands the limited fossil record of euchelicerate musculature, while extending the taphonomic scope for preservation of detailed internal structures, more broadly, within arthropods.

Publisher

The Royal Society

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