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Extra
information:
Megarachne was
originally considered to be the world's largest spider,
however after the discovery of a second specimen and reanalysis
of the holotype it was reassigned as a mycteropid. Mycteropids
are considered to be taxonomically oversplit, possibly due
to poor knowledge of their ontogeny (patterns of growth),
and so it is possible that Megarachne will be further
revised in the future. It is one of the few eurypterids
known from South America, and may bear close relation to
Hastimima which is also known from the Carboniferous
of the continent.
Further
reading:
Hünicken,
M. A. 1980. A giant fossil spider (Megarachne servinei)
from Bajo de V´eliz, Upper Carboniferous,
Argentina. Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias,
C´ordoba, Argentina, 53, 317–341.
Selden,
P. A., Corronca, J. A. & Hünicken, M. A. 2005.
The true identity of the supposed giant fossil spider Megarachne.
Biology Letters, 1, 44–48.
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