Arthropod cuticles from the upper Viséan (Mississippian) of eastern Germany

Abstract

Arthropod cuticles from the Mississippian (Early Carboniferous, Viséan) Hainichen Subgroup, Erzgebirge Basin, have been encountered in bulk-macerated samples from a roadcut exposure in Chemnitz-Glösa, eastern Germany. The cuticles are described in detail and compared with larger faunal components known from the same horizons. Part of the specimens represent remains of arthropod appendages, while others, though exhibiting fine detail of surface texture, could not be assigned to certain body regions. In all cases it remains difficult to assign the fragments from Chemnitz-Glösa to taxa known from the Hainichen Subgroup or from other localities yielding arthropod remains of similar preservation. However, it is suggested that several specimens may represent scorpion remains, either limb parts (piece of the pedipalp, distal claw of walking limb) or fragments of the body surface. One specimen, a single appendage element, could represent the first insect fragment from this locality. All fragments appear to be terrestrial faunal components. Chemnitz-Glösa is one of the very few Lower Carboniferous localities to yield remains of terrestrial arthropods and the only one outside Scotland.