Arthropod fossils discovered in Germany date back to the Eocene era.
new Stady Accordingly, remains of ancient sickle-colored spiders have been found in Germany, she says IFLScience.
Specimens, such as hermit spiders, have very long legs and small bodies. Christian Bartelof the Free University of Berlin and his colleagues believe that animals are Sclerosis They belong to a family.
The fossils were discovered near Darmstadt, at a site called the Messel Crater, known primarily for vertebrate fossils. During the Middle Eocene, the area would have been subtropical or tropical forests.
These are the first fossilized sickle spiders from the area, although spiders and insects have been found before. The recently discovered finds are the oldest sickle spiders in Germany, and also the first fossil arachnids with a metallic sheen on their skin.
The team examined a total of nine individuals. Metallic sheen on a modern group of sickle spiders Jagrelinae He reminded researchers of the subfamily, which currently contains about a thousand species and is found in the Neotropical ecoregion, northern Australia and Malaysia.
