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Fossil spider described from Cretaceous amber

David Penney’s new paper in Paleontological contributions is available here:

ABSTRACT: A new species of fossil ray spider, Baalzebub mesozoicum n. sp. (Araneae: Theridiosomatidae), is described from Mesozoic amber from the Cretaceous (Middle Cenomanian to Early Santonian) deposits of La Garnache, Vendée, NW France. The palpal structures, especially the highly sclerotized claw-shaped retrolateral ‘paracymbium’ originating as an outgrowth of the cymbium basally and the basal cymbial lamella, are considered sufficient to make a tentative placement of the new fossil species in the extant genus Baalzebub Coddington, 1986.

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