''Crussolum'' is a genus of

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

and

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 ...

centipedes from the US and Britain. It is the oldest known centipede.

Description

''Crussolum'' contains one species, ''C. crusserratum'' known from the

Panther Mountain Formation The Panther Mountain Formation is a Formation (stratigraphy), geologic formation in New York (state), New York. It preserves fossils dating back to the Devonian Period (geology), period. It is located in the counties of Albany County, New York, ...

. Fossils from the

Rhynie chert The Rhynie chert is a Lower Devonian Sedimentary rock, sedimentary deposit exhibiting extraordinary fossil detail or completeness (a Lagerstätte). It is exposed near the village of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; a second unit, the Windyfield ...

and Ludford Corner are identifiable to the genus, but are too poorly preserved to place as anything more than ''Crussolum spp.'', although they likely represent new taxa, and may not even be within this genus. The genus is only known from legs, alongside a

maxilliped An appendage (or outgrowth) is an external body part or natural prolongation that protrudes from an organism's body such as an arm or a leg. Protrusions from single-celled bacteria and archaea are known as cell-surface appendages or surface app ...

and antennae. These legs closely resemble those of scutigeromorph centipedes, hence its placement in this group. While they resemble those of ''

Scutigera ''Scutigera'' is a centipede genus in the scutigeromorph (house centipede) family Scutigeridae, a group of centipedes with long limbs and true compound eyes (which were once thought to be secondary, re-evolved "pseudofacetted eyes"). It is co ...

'' relatively closely, their femur and tarsus are much shorter. The antennae and maxilliped are only placed within ''Crussolum'' due to the lack of other known centipedes from the Rhynie chert, and their affinity within this genus is uncertain. The aforementioned antenna has at least 21 segments, however only the distal end is preserved.

Etymology

The genus name ''Crussolum'' is derived from "crus" meaning "legs" and "solum" meaning "only", in reference to how the genus is only known from legs. The specific name ''crusserratum'' also derives from "crus", alongside the word "serratum" meaning "serrated".

References

Fossil taxa described in 1998 Devonian myriapods Scutigeromorpha Silurian myriapods Prehistoric myriapod genera {{Paleo-myriapod-stub