Carrie E. Schweitzer

Kent State University | KSU · Department of Geology

Our knowledge of fossil crustaceans from the tropics has increased considerably during recent decades, thanks to novel findings and the re-examination of museum specimens. However, several previous records have been misidentified, numerous museum specimens have never been reported, and many new discoveries are yet to be published. Here, we present...

Fourteen specimens of cyclidan arthropods form the basis for the description of a new genus and species of Anisian (Middle Triassic) specimens, Yunnanocyclus nodosus n. gen., n. sp., from the Middle Member of the Guanling Formation, Luoping Biota in Yunnan Province, China. Specimens preserve dorsal, ventral, and internal aspects of the morphology o...

The Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Coon Creek Formation of Mississippi and Tennessee possesses a diverse and abundant assemblage of decapods including lobsters, ghost shrimp, and crabs. The formation lies in a temporally and paleogeographically significant location, situated between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the Western Interior Seaway, shor...

The fossil dendrobranchiate shrimp Macropenaeus was originally described from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) limestones of Hadjoula, northwest Lebanon. A new species, M. sidiaichensis sp. nov., was recovered from the Sidi Aïch Formation in the Northern Chotts Range, southern Tunisia. The Barremian occurrence of the genus in Tunisia suggests that...

An assemblage of isolated carapaces and chelipeds of axioid, anomuran and brachyuran decapods in Late Cretaceous (Turonian) sandstone of the Tres Hermanos Formation is a typical North American Western Interior fauna but the first such occurrence in New Mexico. The callianassid Psammionassa n. gen., is represented by a new species, P. paromola. The...

Fossil decapod crustaceans have been collected in rocks ranging in age from Late Devonian to Pleistocene in rocks of varying lithologies, typically fine siliciclastic rocks, concretions within fine to coarse siliciclastic rocks, and fine-grained to lithographic limestones. The enclosing lithology dictates the manner in which specimens can be prepar...

New specimens from the Eocene of Nigeria yielded one new genus and species, Amekicarcinus enigmaticus, and the new species Glyphithyreus bendensis. Indeterminate remains of an axiid decapod were also collected from the same deposit. Nigerian decapod occurrences in general display a Tethyan or Paratethyan distribution in the Eocene, whereas Cretaceo...

Tiny, pelagic arthropods from the Anisian Luoping Biota exposed in two quarries near Luoping, Yunnan Province, China, represent the numerically most abundant organisms in the assemblage. They form the basis for definition of two, and possibly three, species referred to the order Lophogastrida, family Eucopiidae. Yunnanocopia grandis new genus new s...

Studies on the effects of volcanic ash on fauna of the terrestrial realm have been numerous, however, this phenomenon has gone less well studied in the marine realm. Five localities within the Puerto Madryn Formation (Valdes Peninsula, Chubut Province, Argentina) were investigated in order to assess the effects of distal volcanic ash deposition on...

Two new Raninoida crabs from the Cretaceous of Texas are described, Planocorystes robreidi new genus new species, and Texicancer new genus to accommodate Necrocarcinus renfroae . All the previously described raninoid-like decapods from the Pawpaw Formation have been reassigned according to Karasawa et al. (2014). Cretaceous raninoid-like crabs are...

A large assemblage of small specimens of Tridactylastacus sinensis Feldmann, Schweitzer, and Zhang in Feldmann et al., 2012, from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) Luoping Biota, Yunnan Province, China, permitted cladistic analysis confirming their placement within Litogastridae in the superfamily Glypheoidea. Orientation of 86 specimens closely spaced...

Phyllocarids of the Waukesha Biota were systematically, and taphonomically evaluated. Three Ceratiocaris species are present in the biota: C. macroura Collette and Rudkin, 2010; C. papilio Salter in Murchison, 1859; and C. pusilla Matthew, 1889. Specimens range in completeness from nearly complete, including the cephalic to caudal regions, to isola...

Phylogenetic analysis of most species within Necrocarcinoidea based upon 55 adult morphological characters supports the inclusion of 5 families within the superfamily. Two new genera are recognized within Necrocarcinidae, Arcticocarcinus n. gen. and Elektrocarcinus n. gen., and numerous new combinations have resulted. Necrocarcinoidea exhibited div...

Recognition of remains of sterna, pleons, and pereiopods of Aulavescus paintenensis n. sp. (Munidopsidae) and Goniodromites serratus BEURLEN, 1929, from the Late Jurassic Solnhofentype lagerstätten in Bavaria, Germany, provides the first description of these structures in Jurassic Munidopsidae and Goniodromitidae. Addition of these morphological ch...

Two new families of Galatheoidea from the Mesozoic are described. Paragalatheidae encompasses members of Paragalathea and Mesogalathea, as well as two new genera: Discutiolira and Lemacola. The genus Paragalathea is herein restricted to its original definition. New species within the Paragalatheidae established in this paper are: Paragalathea arcel...

Tealliocarid eumalacostracans, known from Late Devonian–Carboniferous marine, non-marine, and estuarine strata of North America, continental Europe, and the United Kingdom, are here transferred from Eucarida: Decapoda back to Peracarida: Pygocephalomorpha. Species included in Tealliocaris exhibit a suite of peracaridan and pygocephalomorphan synapo...

Specimens of tiny galatheoid squat lobsters from the Miocene-Pliocene Purisima Formation exposed near Santa Cruz, California form the basis for description of a new species, Munida prolata. The discovery is only the sixth fossil occurrence of Munida Leach, 1820, and the ninth reported occurrence of Galatheoidea in North America. The specimens are p...

A rare Silurian marrellomorph arthropod is recognized from the Waukesha Biota of Wisconsin, based on approximately ten specimens. Specimens exhibit a range of completeness, some including the cephalic and trunk regions, and others including only the cephalic region. Appendages are rare; however, one specimen includes a preserved cross-section of a...

Five localities within the Puerto Madryn Formation on Peninsula Valdés, Chubut Province, Argentina were investigated in order to assess the effects of volcanic ash on shallow marine communities during the late-middle Miocene (Tortonian). All five localities expose shallow marine deposits, and contain invertebrate fossils including abundant decapod...

The distribution of all recognized biotic elements was mapped on five extensive surfaces of the Middle Triassic Guanling Formation exposed in quarries near Luoping, Yunnan Province, China. A 0.5 m 2 grid was overlain on the surfaces, and all recognizable fossils were located by placing them in one of nine quadrants within the grid. A total of 240 m...

Sosiocaris schramin. gen. n. sp., is described from the Permian Sosio Limestone (Lercara Formation) of the Sosio Valley, Palermo Province, Italy. Sosiocaris schramiis attributed to Pygocephalomorpha incertae sedis. The brachyuran-like carapace morphology of S. schramisuggests that its overall morphology might have been convergent on that of brachyu...

Patterns of diversity and faunal turnover of major groups of decapod crustaceans throughout the Phanerozoic are analyzed based upon data from all known fossil species reported to date. Age, range, and habitat preference data were compiled for 3637 species arrayed in 1035 genera and 173 families. Grouped at the infraordinal level, Anomura, Gebiidea,...

The ecological and physiological significance of body size is well recognized. However, key macroevolutionary questions regarding the dependency of body size trends on the taxonomic scale of analysis and the role of environment in controlling long-term evolution of body size are largely unknown. Here, we evaluate these issues for decapod crustacean...

Discovery of several specimens of Late Jurassic macrurous decapod crustaceans in the Owadów-Brzezinki Quarry, near Tomaszów Mazowiecki in central Poland permits description of a new species of Mecochiridae, Jabaloya polonica. The specimens document the first notice of the genus in Poland. Form of the pleonal terga and the pleopods demonstrate that...

Analyses of diversity patterns at the infraorder, superfamily and family level demonstrate that the lobsters as a group were significantly more diverse in the Mesozoic, especially the Triassic and Jurassic, than in the Cenozoic and Holocene. Peaks in numbers of genera occurred in the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian and Tithonian), Upper Cretaceous (Cenoma...

A single specimen of a shrimp-like crustacean, Devonostenopus pennsylvaniensis, new genus and species is described from the Huntley Mountain Formation, which is Devonian–Carboniferous (Mississippian) in age. The specimen was collected in north-central Pennsylvania. Devonostenopus pennsylvaniensis is attributed to Stenopodidae. Co-occurrence of the...

The names Gebiidea and Axiidea, erected by de Saint Laurent (1979), have priority over others for the two infraorders of shrimps previously included in Thalassinidea. Importantly, Thalassinidea are not monophyletic and the name should be replaced. Gebiidea and Axiidea, besides having priority and describing two monophyletic taxa, are now in common...

Two new genera, Anisaeger and Distaeger, and three new species, Anisaeger brevirostrus, A. spiniferus, and Distaeger prodigiosus, extend the range of the Aegeridae (Dendrobranchiata, Penaeoidea) into the Middle Triassic (Anisian) of China. Seven decapod crustacean species are now known from the Luoping biota of southern China. Morphological feature...

Phylogenetic analysis of most genera within fossil and extant Raninoida (Brachyura) based on 72 adult morphological characters yielded a new superfamily and family level classification for the section. The section was most diverse at the family level during the Late Cretaceous but remains diverse at the genus and species level in the Holocene. New...

Lobsters are a ubiquitous and economically important group of decapod crustaceans that include the infraorders Polychelida, Glypheidea, Astacidea and Achelata. They include familiar forms such as the spiny, slipper, clawed lobsters and crayfish and unfamiliar forms such as the deep-sea and "living fossil" species. The high degree of morphological d...

The present record of two species of brachyurous decapod crustaceans, Costacopluma grayi Feldmann & Portell, 2007 and Stevea martini sp. nov., from the lower Paleocene Pine Barren Member (Clayton Formation) in south-central Alabama, constitutes an extension of the range of the former and the sole occurrence of the latter. Previously, C. grayi was d...

A large collection of Neozanthopsis americana (Rathbun, 1928) from the Middle Eocene (Lutetian) Cane River Formation in Louisiana, USA, represents the first opportunity to describe the species in detail. Detailed analysis of associated teleost otoliths and other vertebrate remains documents a palaeoenvironmental setting characterised by a soft-sedi...

Ecosystems changed dramatically during the Mesozoic marine revolution, including the rise of decapod crustaceans such as lobsters, shrimp, true crabs, and squat lobsters. However, quantitative patterns of decapod biodiversity through geological time are virtually unknown. This hampers our understanding of their importance in past ecosystems and tim...

The Brachyura, or ‘true’ crabs, are the most derived and diverse group of crustaceans. They are first known from the Mid–Jurassic (~160 Ma.) and rapidly diversified worldwide during the Cretaceous (~146 to 66 Ma.). Since then, crabs have exploded in form and function, resulting in the incredible morphological diversity seen among the more than ~9,0...

A new penaeoid shrimp collected from the Middle Triassic Member II of the Guanling Formation in the vicinity of the city of Luxi, Yunnan, southwest China, is a new species, Aeger luxii n. sp. The new species possesses prominent spinose third maxillipeds, which is one of the typical characteristics of Aeger. The new species differs from the type spe...

The infraorder Anomura has long captivated the attention of evolutionary biologists due to its impressive morphological diversity and ecological adaptations. To date, 2500 extant species have been described but phylogenetic relationships at high taxonomic levels remain unresolved. Here, we reconstruct the evolutionary history---phylogeny, divergenc...

Nine new genera, 24 new species, and two new combinations within the Munidopsidae are detailed within this paper. New genera established in this paper are: Ambulocapsa, A standard terminology for the fossil munidopsids is proposed within this work in order to simplify the diagnoses and descriptions. Two diagnostic keys using dorsal cara-pace charac...

Discovery of a single specimen of brachyurous decapod crustacean in late Albian gray claystone extracted from the Hannover-Lahe core, Germany, permits description of a new species of Etyidae Etyus makrochele. The discovery extends the geographic range of the genus into the Lower Saxony Basin in north-west Germany.

A single specimen of decapod crustacean, preserved in ventral view and compressed, represents a new genus and species of eryonid lobster, Wrangelleryon perates . The discovery in Lower Jurassic (Hettangian) sediments of the Sandilands Formation in British Columbia represents the first occurrence of Eryonidae in North America and reinforces a global...

A phylogenetic analysis including representatives from 44 extinct and 27 extant families of lobsters (Polychelida, Achelata, Glypheidea, and Astacidea), resulted in the recognition of one new superfamily, Glaessnericarioidea, and three new families, Glaessnericariidae, Neoglypheidae, and Litogastroidae. Two families, Protastacidae and Stenochiridae...

Eleven concretions containing the nephropid lobster, Palaeonephrops browni (Whitfield, 1907), from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian), Bearpaw Formation in northeastern Montana, were examined using visual and geochemical methods. The concretions were zoned, with an axial, phosphate-rich core also containing calcium surrounding the lobster remains and...

Goniodromitidae is an extinct family of primarily Jurassic and Cretaceous crabs that are found mainly in Europe. Herein, we report upon a diversity hotspot for goniodromitids from the Koskobilo quarry in northern Spain exposing mid-Cretaceous (Albian/Cenomanian) coral reef limestones. Five species of goniodromitid are described and discussed: Diste...

Sphaerodromiidae is reported from the Paleocene of Texas with Dromilites? cardwelli (Armstrong, Nyborg, Bishop, Oss-Morales, and Vega, 2009) new combination. The species is a sphaerodromiid but is too poorly preserved for confident generic placement. The morphology of the preserved sternum of D. ? cardwelli confirms placement in Sphaerodromiidae. S...

Rocks of the Rio Turbio Formation, exposed in southern Patagonia, Argentina, represent one of very few occurrences of Eocene rocks in the region. Decapod crustaceans collected from the unit include one species of thalassinidean mud shrimp; Turbiocheir minutospinata, new genus, new species; and three species of brachyurans; Raninoides rioturbiensis,...

A large collection of macrurous decapod crustaceans is recorded from the middle–late Anisian (Middle Triassic) Guanling Formation in Yunnan Province, China. A remarkable assemblage of over 20,000 vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant fossils collectively referred to as the Luoping Biota has been collected from quarries in the vicinity of the city of...

A new genus of crab from the Late Cretaceous of Antarctica increases diversity within Necrocarcinidae Förster, 1968, and demonstrates what appear to be gradual evolution and sympatric speciation in the southern high latitudes. New taxa include Hadrocarcinus tectilacus, new genus, new species, as well as two new combinations, Hadrocarcinus carinatus...

Two new species of Munididae from the Jurassic, Juracrista perculta and Juracrista costaspi­nosa, are the oldest known members of the Munididae. This new discovery parallels the other galatheoid lineages, with the Galatheidae, Munidopsidae, and Porcellanidae all having roots in the Middle-Late Jurassic.

Members of the Etyidae and Feldmanniidae new family have unique arrangements of the spermatheca and gonopores that permit placement of each in different families and that differentiate each from all other brachyurans. Spermathecal openings are not always positioned along the sternal suture between sternites 7 and 8, suggesting that reproductive arc...

The crab The number of localities globally yielding coral-associated decapod crustaceans from the Cretaceous is limited. Decapods from three new localities from the Cretaceous of Europe are described, all of which are associated with corals. One new locality is the Olazagutía quarry in northern Spain in which coral reef limestones from the Albian/C...

Raninoida, also known as “frog crabs,” is a clade of extant true crabs (Brachyura) characterized by a fusiform carapace (raninid-type), narrow thoracic sternum, pleon partially exposed dorsally, and paddle-like limbs, all of which are well suited to their cryptic burrowing lifestyle. However, the most basal raninoids from the Cretaceous were morpho...

Ongoing confusion concerning the generic placement of the Argentinian Cenozoic species Aus­ tromunida casadioi schweitzeR & Feldmann, 2000, is addressed by separating the referred specimens into two species: maintaining A. casadioi and erecting the new species Munida deangelii. Zusammenfassung Die umstrittene Gattungszugehörigkeit der argentinische...

Examination of E. LőRenthey's decapod material in the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart, as well as other museums, has resulted in several new genera and species from the Eocene of Egypt. The Eocene Egyptian decapod fauna was robust, unsurprising given the diverse Eocene faunas known from Italy, Spain, and North America. The revision of...

A single specimen, part and counterpart of a carapace, of a horseshoe crab from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Glen Rose Formation in north‐central Texas, forms the basis for the definition of a new genus and species, Crenatolimulus paluxyensis. The discovery represents only the fifth limuline known from the Cretaceous. Its preservational style is r...

A phylogenetic analysis based upon 30 extinct and extant taxa of podotrematous brachyuran decapods using 74 characters shows that Podotremata sensu Guinot, 1977 is not monophyletic and results in a new classification for these crabs. Four new taxa are recognized at the section-level (Homoloida, Torynommoida, Etyoida, and Dakoticancroida) as well as...

Podotrematous crabs from the Cretaceous worldwide are examined and reassigned, resulting in Vespridromites new genus, Notiodromia new genus, and Antarctiprosopon new genus, and seven new combinations. Torynommidae is severely restricted. Longodromitidae as currently recognized extends into the Eocene and has a well-established Cretaceous record.

Description of a new genus and species of crayfish from the Eocene McAbee beds in southern British Columbia, Canada, marks the first occurrence of Parastacoidea Huxley, 1879, in the Northern Hemisphere. The superfamily is widely distributed in modern aquatic environments in the Southern Hemisphere, except in Africa and Antarctica, as well as in Aus...

Compilation of lists of all genera of decapods and all species of fossil decapods has prompted erection of replacement names for junior synonyms. Duncanitrix replaces Duncania Portell and Collins, 2004; Gwana replaces Wanga Hu and Tao, 1996; Loerenthoplumopsa replaces Loerentheya Beurlen, in Lo˝renthey and Beurlen (1929); Paradoxilissopsa replaces...

A decapod crustacean fauna of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, is documented from the middle Miocene Carmen Silva Formation and the early? Miocene Cerro Águila Conglomerate of the Cabo Domingo Group. Three new genera and five new species are named: Asthenognathus australensis, new species; Miotymolus quadratus, new genus and species; Mursia fuegiana, n...

Twelve species of Neogene decapod crustaceans are described from late Miocene and early Pliocene deposits in the Valdivia, Osomo-Llanquihue, and Chiloé basins as well as from Mocha Island, offshore from the Temuco Basin, southern Chile. New species of thalassinideans include Ctenocheles notialis and Axianassa? chilensis. Axianassa Schmitt, 1924, ha...

A Triassic decapod crustacean is described here for the first time from the Norian-Rhaetian Ghalilah Formation of the Musandam Peninsula, United Arab Emirates. The single specimen Platykotta akaina n. gen n. sp. is referred to a new family Platykottidae. The studied crustacean, initially with only the ventral exposure preserved, was collected from...

Paraeuphylax cubaensis, a new genus and new species of decapod, is described from the Colón Formation (Oligocene–Miocene) in the Matanzas province, Cuba. The Podophthalminae was a diverse subfamily during the late Paleogene and early Neogene

A new family of Dorippoidea, Goniochelidae, embraces the monotypic Eocene–Oligocene genus Goniochele. The Cyclodorippoida is extended into the Albian (Early Cretaceous) with the referral of Hillius to the Cyclodorippidae. Sodakus is removed from the Dorippidae and questionably placed within the Ibericancridae. One new genus, Enodicarcinus, and two...

Aim The sequential break‐up of Gondwana is thought to be a dominant process in the establishment of shared biota across landmasses of the Southern Hemisphere. Yet similar distributions are shared by taxa whose radiations clearly post‐date the Gondwanan break‐up. Thus, determining the contribution of vicariance versus dispersal to seemingly Gondwana...

Jurellana tithonia n. sp. is the earliest known Porcellanidae, from the Tithonian Ernstbrunn Limestone, Austria. Porcellanids are well-known from the fossil record, already having been described from Cretaceous, Eocene, and Neogene rocks. Their occurrence in the Jurassic is not surprising, because the Infraorder Anomura, to which they belong, is th...

Discovery of a single specimen of a shrimp fossil from the Devonian Woodford Shale in the Ryan Quarry, near Ada, Oklahoma, documents the oldest occurrence of a penaeoid decapod crustacean, Aciculopoda mapesi n. gen., n. sp. within the Aciculopodidae n. fam. The specimen lacks any diagnostic features of the primitive Paleozoic eumalacostracans, incl...

Coelopus Étallon, 1861, as herein defined contains six species including Coelopus repandus n. sp. and Coelopus convexus n. sp. Coelopus pustulosus (von Meyer, 1860), which was used to illustrate the genus in the Treatise volume on Decapoda, is herein removed to Tanidromites, and a lectotype is designated. Coelopus is known from Bathonian to Tithoni...

Unpublished material originally identifi ed by J.-M. Remy, as well as evaluation of his type material deposited in the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, has resulted in two new genera, Remyranina n. gen. and Planobranchia n. gen.; two new species, Liocarcinus heintzi n. sp. and Szaboa lamarei n. sp., and fi ve new combina-tions, Remyrani...

The definition of the genus Dromilites has become extended over the past nearly 200 years to include most any dromioid crab from Eocene rocks. We examined type material of Dromilites spp. and restrict the genus to four species. The remaining species are removed to other genera or families incertae sedes. The remarkable preservation of the type spec...

Examination of several Jurassic species of brachyurans from Tithonian localities in eastern and central Europe has resulted in one new family, Konidromitidae, two new species, Distefania calva and D. dacia, and numerous new combinations. Palaeodromites A. Milne-Edwards, 1865, is a distinct, monotypic genus within the Goniodromitidae Beurlen, 1932,...

The oldest confirmed brachyurans, referable to the Homolodromioidea and Glaessneropsoidea, are Early to Middle Jurassic in age. Geographically, all of the occurrences are in Europe, with one exception, in Tanzania.

The relationship between predator and prey is a persistent theme in marine paleontology. Herein we focus on the decapod Crustacea, the shrimps, lobsters, and crabs, and their role as predators on the Mollusca through geologic time. Five major means by which decapods crush shells or eat shelled prey might be recorded in the body-fossil record, as th...

A systematic list of all currently known species of fossil deapod crustaceans, placed within a modern classification of the suborder, includes verified authorships and dates of publication along with a complete list of references to all systematic categories.

A new genus and species of brachyuran decapod crustacean of the family Dromiidae, Quinquerugatus holthuisi, is described from the middle Eocene Tupelo Bay Formation and Santee Limestone in South Carolina. The new genus and species is morphologically similar to the dromiid Cryptodromia spp. but differs from them in having a more rounded carapace, we...

Cycloprosopon Lőrenthey in Lőrenthey & Beurlen, 1929, is redefined and referred to the Goniodromitidae Beurlen, 1932. Four new species, Cycloprosopon conspicuum, C. devexum, C. octonarium, C. stenofrons, as well as two new combinations, Goniodromites transsylvanicus (Lőrenthey in Lőrenthey & Beurlen, 1929) and Eodromites dobrogea (FeLdman, Lazǎr &...

We present an updated classification for the entire Crustacea Decapoda, listing all known families and genera organized by higher taxonomic groups and including estimates of the number of species in every genus. All taxonomic names are also linked to the verified literature in which they were described, the first compilation of its kind for the Dec...

The genus Cyclothyreus Remeš, 1895, is comprised of nine species, four of which are new: Cyclothyreus cardiacus, C. divaricatus, C. quadrophthalmus, and C. strangus. Cyclothyreus is for now placed within the Dynomenidae sensu lato, recognizing that it cannot be accommodated within any of the existing subfamilies, or for that matter, within any exis...