A new specimen of whip scorpion (Arachnida; Thelyphonida) from the Crato Formation, Lower Cretaceous of Brazil

Abstract

Fossil whip scorpions (Thelyphonida) are extremely rare in the Crato Formation strata, Araripe Basin, Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) of Brazil. Only four specimens of whip scorpions have been described in this unit so far. All specimens have been assigned to the genus Mesoproctus Dunlop and only one species has been formally proposed, M. rowlandi Dunlop. For Mesozoic times, apart from Crato Formation, whip scorpions are only documented by two species in the amber deposits of the Hukawng Valley, northern Myanmar. In this scenario, each new discovery of Mesozoic whip scorpion is highly important. In addition, we present the first documented example of book lungs from a fossil whip scorpion. Here, we present and illustrate a new specimen of whip scorpion found in the Crato strata. Keywords: Crato arachnofauna, Uropypi, Mesoproctus, Aptian, Lagerstätten.