RARE Mazon Creek Arachnid Lissomartus

Lissomartus schucherti

Phylum Arthropoda, Subphylum Chelicerata, Class Arachnida, Family Lissomartidae

Geological Time: Pennsylvanian (~300 m.y.a.)

Size (25.4 mm = 1 inch): Fossil is 15 mm by 20 mm (across limbs) on a 40 mm by 40 mm nodule pair

Fossil Site: Francis Creek Shale, Morris, Illinois (Mazon Creek)

Code: HMC06

Price: $1150.00


Lissomartus schucherti Arachnid Description: The Mazon Creek deposits of the region near Braidwood, Illinois rival the other famous Lagerstatten of the Burgess Shale, Solnhofen, and Liaoning for the variety of detailed life preserved. Many exquisitely-preserved specimens are found in the Lissomartusironstone nodules that make up the deposits. This fine specimen was found recently in Mazon Creek itself, and is of a spider-like arachnid known as Lissomartus a member of the Trigonotarbida. The trigonotarbids are rare arachnids comprising less than 6% of the total specimens from Trigonotarbid ArachnidMazon Creek. The Mazon Creek location has yielded some 250 arachnids as of the publication of Richardson’s guidebook, more than any other Paleozoic locality. While most are incomplete, the degree of preservation allows for interpretation of these ancestral creatures. Note that there are several preserved limbs, and the finely segmented abdomen is quite evident in this part/counterpart specimen. I have recently been able to procure specimens from a family who has been collecting this material in the field for three generations, and will continue posting material as it becomes available to me.

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