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2025 in arthropod paleontology

Overview of the events of 2025 in arthropod paleontology From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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In 2025, several new arthropod fossil taxa, including arachnids, crustaceans, trilobites, and other arthropods (for insects, see 2025 in paleoentomology) were announced or described. Other significant arthropod paleontological discoveries and events also occurred in 2025.

Chelicerates

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Arachnids

Amblypygi

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Pseudoscorpiones

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Sarcoptiformes

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Sarcoptiform research
  • Klimov et al. (2025) revise Protospeleorchestes pseudoprotacarus, Paraprotacarus hirsti and Palaeotydeus devonicus from the Devonian Rhynie chert (United Kingdom) and interpret them all as junior synonyms of Protacarus crani, assigned by the authors to the new family Protoacaridae within Endeostigmata; the authors also study the diversification timeline of acariform mites, and argue that the crown group of Acariformes originated during the Cambrian, at the time of colonization of lands by bryophytes.[6]

Scorpiones

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Scorpion research
  • Xuan et al. (2025) revise scorpions from the family Chaerilobuthidae known from the Cretaceous Kachin amber from Myanmar, reinterpret Chaeriloiurus and Serratochaerilobuthus as junior synonyms of the genus Chaerilobuthus, and rerank the family Chaerilobuthidae itself as a subfamily belonging to the family Pseudochactidae.[15]

Trombidiformes

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Trombidiform research
  • New caeculid specimens, including the first fossil caeculid larva, are described from the Cretaceous Kachin amber from Myanmar by Gerbe et al. (2025).[18]

Uropygi

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Eurypterids

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Xiphosurans

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Xiphosuran research

  • Evidence indicating that fusion of the opisthosomal segments happened once in the common ancestor to Xiphosura, while loss of visible segment boundaries happened several times during the xiphosuran evolution, is presented by Lamsdell & Ocon (2025).[24]

Other chelicerates

Other chelicerate research

  • Strausfeld, Andrew & Hirth (2025) report evidence of organization of prosoma and cerebrum of Mollisonia symmetrica similar to those observed in extant arachnids, and intepret Mollisonia as likely to be a stem-arachnid phylogenetically close to the arachnid crown group.[25]
  • Lustri et al. (2025) propose that chelicerates belonging to the family Offacolidae were suspension feeders.[26]
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Crustaceans

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Malacostracans

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Malacostracan research

  • Bicknell et al. (2025) study two clusters of Archaeoniscus brodiei from the Berriasian Durlston Formation (United Kingdom), providing new information on the anatomy of the studied isopod.[46]
  • New information on the morphology of Beurlenia araripensis is provided by Lima et al. (2025).[47]
  • Mychko (2025) describes fossil material of Palaeastacus aff. solitarius from the Tithonian strata from the Cheryomukha River Basin (Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia), extending known geographical range of Late Jurassic members of the genus Palaeastacus.[48]
  • A study on the distribution and diversity of members of the family Glypheidae throughout their evolutionary history is published by Damborenea et al. (2025).[49]
  • Worthy et al. (2025) identify fossil material (molar ridges of the mandible) of at least three taxa of parastacids from the Miocene Bannockburn Formation (New Zealand), providing evidence of greater diversity of parastacids in New Zealand in the Miocene compared to the present.[50]
  • Baucon et al. (2025) report the discovery of vertical burrows from a new Carnian site from the Travenanzes Formation (Italy), possibly representing the oldest fossil evidence of true crabs reported to date.[51]
  • Mychko, Schweitzer & Feldmann (2025) describe fossil material of Gastrosacus wetzleri and Goniodromites aliquantulus from Oxfordian reef limestones of the North Caucasus (Russia), expanding known geographical range of both taxa.[52]

Ostracods

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Ostracod research

  • Evidence from the study of Silurian ostracod assemblages from the eastern Baltic Basin (Lithuania), indicating that the mid-Homerian biotic turnover event most likely lasted approximately 260,000 years (and thus was shorter than indicated by earlier estimates), is presented by Rinkevičiūtė et al. (2025).[69]
  • Wang et al. (2025) revise the ostracod fauna from the Upper Cretaceous Liwaxia and Madongshan formations (China), correlate it with contemporaneous ostracod faunas from China and Mongolia, and assign the genus Liupanshania to the subfamily Cyproidinae in the family Notodromadidae.[70]
  • A study on the composition and biogeographical connections of ostracod assemblages from the Paleocene-Eocene sedimentary succession at Wadi Tarfa (Egypt) is published by Samir et al. (2025).[71]

Thecostracans

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Thecostracan research

Other crustaceans

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Other crustacean research

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Insects

Radiodonts

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Radiodont research

  • Evidence from the study of new fossil material of Caryosyntrips from the Cambrian strata of the Hongjiangshao Formation (China) and Spence Shale (Utah, United States), interpreted as indicating that characters used to diagnose species belonging to this genus might instead reflect variation within the same species, is presented by Yang et al. (2025).[84]
  • Luo et al. (2025) describe fossil material of Ursulinacaris cf. U. grallae from the Miaolingian strata of the Kaili Formation (China), expanding known geographical range of members of the genus Ursulinacaris.[85]
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Trilobites

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Trilobite research

  • Evidence of impact of changes in marine redox on the evolution of body size of Cambrian and Ordovician trilobites is presented by Sun et al. (2025).[103]
  • A study on the phylogenetic relationships of cyclopygid trilobites is published by Braddy, Dale & Wang (2025).[104]
  • Revision of the family Olenidae is published by Monti (2025).[105]
  • Crônier, Couette & Laffont (2025) compare the utility of 2D and 3D quantitative analyses for the studies of morphological diversity of phacopid trilobites.[106]
  • Zabini et al. (2025) identify fossil material of Mucronaspis sp. from the Ordovician Iapó Formation, representing the oldest record of a trilobite from Brazil reported to date.[107]
  • A study on the modular organization of the trilobite head, as indicated by data from specimens of Ceraurus pleurexanthemus from the Ordovician (Sandbian) Glens Falls Limestone (New York, United States), is published by Vargas-Parra & Hopkins (2025).[108]
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Other arthropods

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  • Collantes & Pates (2025) revise the holotype of Isoxys carbonelli and confirm placement of this species within the genus Isoxys.[115]
  • Nielsen et al. (2025) study changes of elongated cardinal spines of Isoxys volucris during its ontogeny, and argue that the studied spines had a primary defensive function.[116]
  • Haridy et al. (2025) identify purported early vertebrate Anatolepis as an arthropod, and interpret its purported dentine tubules as sensory structures similar to those present in Cambrian aglaspidids and modern arthropods.[117]
  • A study on the morphology of cephalic appendages of Acanthomeridion serratum, providing evidence of probable adaptations to durophagy, is published by Wu et al. (2025).[118]
  • Evidence of the presence of two pairs of different compound eyes in Pygmaclypeatus daziensis (a pair of stalked, movable eyes and a pair of sessile dorsal eyes) is presented by Schmidt et al. (2025).[119]
  • O'Flynn et al. (2025) describe new fossil material of Kuamaia lata from the Cambrian Chiungchussu Formation (China), providing new information on the frontal appendages and number of head segments in members of this species, and interpret the studied fossils as indicating that raptorial frontal appendages, ancestral for Euarthropoda but lost in Artiopoda, evolved secondarily within the artiopod lineage that included K. lata.[120]
  • Redescription and a study on the affinities of Helmetia expansa is published by Losso, Caron & Ortega-Hernández (2025).[121]
  • Bicknell et al. (2025) describe fossil material of Naraoia cf. bertiensis from the Silurian (Přídolí) Phelps Member of the Fiddlers Green Formation (Bertie Group; New York, United States), expanding known geographical range of the youngest naraoiids.[122]
  • Naimark & Chaika (2025) study the structure of the cuticles of members of Agnostina, reporting evidence of greater similarity to cuticles of chelicerates than those of crustaceans.[123]
  • Liu et al. (2025) present new information on the morphology of Primicaris, interpreted as supporting a stem-group mandibulate affinity for marrellomorphs.[124]
  • Brookfield, Catlos & Garza (2025) argue that the strata of the Stonehaven Group (United Kingdom) preserving fossil material of Pneumodesmus newmani is most likely PřídolíLochkovian in age.[125]
  • Dernov (2025) describes impressions of probable paratergites of Arthropleura sp. from the Carboniferous (Bashkirian) Mospyne Formation (Ukraine), possibly representing fossil material of juvenile specimens, and argues that juvenile and adult arthropleurids might have lived in different habitats.[126]
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General research

  • Chipman (2025) proposes a new model for the evolution of arthropod tagmata based on data from extant and fossil arthropods.[127]
  • Naimark & Sizov (2025) study the taphonomy of the Cambrian arthropod fossils from the Kimiltei site (Irkutsk Oblast, Russia) first reported by Naimark, Sizov & Khubanov (2023),[128] and argue that the identification of putative members of Offacolidae and Chasmataspidida from this locality as chelicerates is correct.[129]
  • Le Cadre et al. (2025) report the discovery of a bristly millipede very similar to extant Polyxenus lagurus and two member of an extinct mite lineage (Glaesacarus rhombeus) in a single piece of the Eocene Baltic amber, providing evidence of shared habitat of the studied arthropods and possible evidence of bradytely in bristly millipedes.[130]
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References

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