A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation?

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  A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation? Abstract Pseudoscorpions are well known for phoretic associations with arthropods, but interactions with amphibians are rarely documented. Here we report a pseudoscorpion attached to the left palpebral region of an adult male Italian cave salamander, Speleomantes italicus , observed during a visual survey in a karst cave in Tuscany, Italy. The pseudoscorpion, assigned on the basis of visible morphology and locality to Chthonius cf. elongatus , was grasping a minute cutaneous fold on the lower margin of the left upper eyelid with one chela while the salamander moved slowly over the rock surface. No handling was performed and the initial contact between the two animals was not observed. The event therefore cannot be interpreted unambiguously, but may represent opportunistic phoresy or defensive attachment following a failed predation attempt. To our knowledge, this is the first published observation of a ...

First fossil of the pseudoscorpion family Chernetidae Menge, 1855 (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpiones) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

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First fossil of the pseudoscorpion family Chernetidae Menge, 1855 (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpiones) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Abstract

Pseudoscorpions (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones) are amongst the oldest terrestrial lineages but their fossil record is still very sparse. In recent years, Upper Cretaceous Burmese amber has emerged as an important source for fossil pseudoscorpions. In this study, we extend the fossil record of the family Chernetidae Menge, 1855 – one of the most diverse pseudoscorpion families – by at least 20 million years through the description of a new genus and species, †Burmachernes gen. nov. for the new species †Burmachernes cenomanium sp. nov. from this amber deposit. Although †Burmachernes exhibits the principle synapomorphy of Chernetidae, namely venom glands in the movable chelal finger, it is distinguished from all 121 extant genera as well as the Eocene fossil genus †Oligochernes Beier, 1937 by a unique combination of characters, including trichobothrial arrangement, chaetotaxy, and cheliceral morphology. This fossil represents a significant discovery that fills an important gap in the evolutionary history of Chernetidae, extends the temporal range of the family further back into the Mesozoic, and demonstrates that chernetid pseudoscorpions had already evolved morphological features closely resembling those of their extant relatives.

Willmott LA, Kotthoff U, Harms D (2026) First fossil of the pseudoscorpion family Chernetidae Menge, 1855 (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpiones) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Evolutionary Systematics 10(1): 101-111. https://doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.10.190572