''Austrolimulus fletcheri'' is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
xiphosuran, related to the modern
horseshoe crab
Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to arachn ...
. The holotype and only known specimen is from
Middle Triassic
In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided in chronostratigraphy. The Middle Triassic spans the time between Ma and ...
-aged strata of Brookvale,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
[Riek, E. F. "A NEW XIPHOSURAN FROM THE TRIASSIC SEDIMENTS AT BROOKVALE, NEW SOUTH WALES." Records of the Australian Museum 23 (1955): 281-282]
/ref>
References
*''Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters'' by Donald R. Prothero and Carl Buell
External links
Xiphosura
at Palaeos.com
Xiphosura
Middle Triassic arthropods
{{Chelicerata-stub