''Attercopus'' is an extinct genus of

arachnid Arachnids are arthropods in the Class (biology), class Arachnida () of the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, opiliones, harvestmen, Solifugae, camel spiders, Amblypygi, wh ...

s, containing one species ''Attercopus fimbriunguis'', known from flattened cuticle fossils from the Panther Mountain Formation in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

. It is placed in the extinct order Uraraneida, spider-like animals able to produce

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

, but which lacked true spinnerets and retained a segmented abdomen bearing a flagellum-like tail resembling that of a whip scorpion. They are thought to be close to the origins of spiders. Its name is taken from the English dialect word ''attercop'' ("spider"), which came from ' ("poison-head"), from ' ("poison"), itself drawn from the

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...

''*aitra-'' ("poisonous ulcer") and ''kopp-'' ("head"). In '' The Hobbit'',

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

had Bilbo use ''attercop'' to insult attacking spiders, the insult possibly deriving from its meaning in Northern England dialect of "peevish, ill-natured person". Cop or cob had also come to mean spider, as in cobweb. An important Early

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

(about ) fossil example from Gilboa, New York, was originally described as a member of the extinct order Trigonotarbida and named ''Gelasinotarbus? fimbriunguis''. It was later assigned to a new genus ''Attercopus'' and reinterpreted as the oldest, and most primitive, example of a true spider and described as being the first user of silk in animals.( Araneae). This hypothesis was based on the supposed presence of unique spider features such as silk-producing spinnerets and the opening of a venom gland on the fang of the chelicera. Further study – based on new fossils from a comparable Devonian locality called South Mountain – and comparison with other material from the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

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, i.e., of '' Permarachne'', indicates that ''Attercopus'' does not actually have spinnerets. The feature which looked like a tubular spinneret is actually a folded sheet of cuticle. It would, however, have produced silk from a series of silk gland openings, or spigots, located across plates on the underside of the abdomen. The opening for the venom gland is also a misinterpretation. A segmented tail, or flagellum, also belonged to this animal. It seems unlikely that ''Attercopus'' spun webs, but it may have used its silk to wrap eggs, lay draglines or construct burrow walls. ''Attercopus fimbriunguis'' is not a spider, but it is probably close to the type of animals which did give rise to modern spiders today.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20672582, from2=Q2870066 Devonian arachnids Devonian arthropods of North America Monotypic arachnid genera Fossil taxa described in 1987