''Euproops'' Meek, 1867, 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 ...

genus of xiphosuran, related to the modern horseshoe crab. It lived during the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

Period. The '' Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology'' describes ''Euproopidae'' as "small forms with wedge-shaped cardiac lobe bordered by distinct axial furrows, abdominal shield with annulated axis bearing a high boss on last segment." The same source describes ''Euproops'' as follows. "Prosoma with flat genal spines and carinate opthamalic spines; cardiopthamalic region with or without intercardiopthamalic area; abdomen with raised pleural ridges that cross flattened rim and are prolonged as marginal spines; annulated axis with knob on 1st and 3rd segments and elevated boss or short spine on hindmost segment; telson long."

Type species

''Belinurus danae'' Meek & Worthen, 1865. = ''Euproops kilmersdonensis'' Ambrose & Romano, 1972 according to Anderson (1994); also ''E. gwenti'' and ''E. graigola'', both from Upper

Coal Measures In lithostratigraphy, the coal measures are the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. In the United Kingdom, the Coal Measures Group consists of the Upper Coal Measures Formation, the Middle Coal Measures Formation and the Lower Coal ...

strata in Wales, and ''E. darrahi'' from the

Pennsylvanian Pennsylvanian may refer to: * A person or thing from Pennsylvania * Pennsylvanian (geology) The Pennsylvanian ( , also known as Upper Carboniferous or Late Carboniferous) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timesca ...

Conemaugh Formation The Conemaugh Formation is a geologic formation in Pennsylvania. It preserves fossils dating back to the Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Dev ...

, Pennsylvania, USA according to Bicknell and Pates (2020). ''E. danae'' is widely distributed, having also been recorded from the

Mazon Creek The Mazon Creek fossil beds are a conservation ' found near Morris, in Grundy County, Illinois. The fossils are preserved in ironstone concretions, formed approximately in the mid- Pennsylvanian epoch of the Carboniferous period. These concreti ...

Konservat-Lagerstätte,

Carbondale Formation The Carbondale Formation is a geologic formation in Indiana. It preserves fossils dating back to the Carboniferous period. See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Indiana This article contains a list of fossil-bearing stratig ...

, Illinois, USA; the

Beeman Formation The Beeman Formation is a geologic formation in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Kasimovian Age of the Pennsylvanian Period. Description The Beeman Formation consists of cyclic shale and argillaceo ...

, New Mexico, USA; Uffington Shale of West Virginia, USA; Riversdale Group, Canada; the Almaznaya Formation and

Donets Black Coal Basin The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

, Ukraine; Farrington Group, England, UK; Smolyaninovskaya Formation, Russia. In 2021, a specimen of ''E. danae'' was discovered with an exceptionally well-preserved brain and central nervous system (CNS). It appears that the CNS of this (and perhaps other extinct horseshoe crabs) has remained essentially unchanged for some 300 m.y.

Other species

*''Euproops mariae'' Crônier & Courville, 2004. from the Upper

of the Graissessac Basin ( Massif Central, France). *''Euproops rotundatus'' (

Prestwich Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester city centre, north of Salford and south of Bury. Historically part of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ancient parish o ...

1840). From the Upper Carboniferous of Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, England. Also recorded from Coal Measures at Westhoughton, England, UK; Upper Coal Measures in South Wales, UK; and Pennine Middle Coal Measures in Lancashire, England. The fine reconstruction of ''E. rotundatus'' by Filipiak and Krawczyński (1996) is based on material from the Orzesze Beds,

Upper Silesian Coal Basin The Upper Silesian Coal Basin ( pl, Górnośląskie Zagłębie Węglowe, GZW, cs, Hornoslezská uhelná pánev) is a coal basin in Silesia, in Poland and the Czech Republic.Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Silesian Metropolis municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industria ...

, Poland. *''Euproops anthrax'' Prestwich, 1840,

Pennant Sandstone Formation Pennant may refer to: Flag or banner * Pennon (or pennant), a narrow, tapering flag ** Commissioning pennant, the traditional sign of a warship, flown from its masthead while the ship is in commission ** Broad pennant, flown from the masthead ...

(Upper Coal measures), Wales. *''Euproops longispina'' Packard, 1885, from the Carboniferous-aged

Allegheny Formation The Pennsylvanian Allegheny Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in western and central Pennsylvania, western Maryland and West Virginia, and southeastern Ohio. It is a major coal-bearing unit in the Appalachian Plateau of the eastern United States ...

, Pennsylvania, USA. *''Euproops cambrensis'' Dix and Pringle, 1929, from the Lower Coal Measures (Silesian, Westphalian) 15 yards above New Seam (= Gellideg Seam),

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. *''Euproops meeki'' Dix and Pringle, 1929, From the Carboniferous Upper Coal Measures of South Wales, UK. *''Euproops bifidus'' Siegfried, 1972, Flöz Dreibänke Formation, Upper Westphalian, Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. *''Euproops orientalis'' Kobayashi, 1933, from the Carboniferous-aged Jido Series, Korea.Kobayashi, T. (1933). On the occurrence of Xiphosuran remains in Chosen (Korea). ''Jpn J. Geol. Geogr''. 10, 175 – 182. *''Euproops'' sp., so-called ''Piesproops'', from the Carboniferous Osnabrück Formation, Piesberg quarry, Westphalian D, Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany.

References

Sources

*''Fossils'' (Smithsonian Handbooks) by David Ward *Leif Størmer, 1955, Merestomata, ''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part P Arthropoda 2, Chelicerata,'' Geological Society of America and the University of Kansas, p. P20.

Gallery

File:Euproops rotundatus (Prestwich 1840).jpg, ''Euproops rotundatus'' (Prestwich 1840). Upper

, Westphalian (Duckmantian), Crock Hay Open Cast Quarry, Wigan, Lancashire, UK. File:Belinuridae - Prestwichia anthrax.JPG, Fossil of '' E. 'Prestwichia' anthrax'' from Coalbrook Dale, England. File:Feart-08-00098-g019.jpg, alt=, Fossils of ''Euproops danae''.

External links

Xiphosura
at Palaeos.com
Bicknell R. D. C. and Pates S. (2020) Pictorial Atlas of Fossil and Extant Horseshoe Crabs, With Focus on Xiphosurida. Front. Earth Sci. 8:98
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2783527 Xiphosura Carboniferous arthropods Fossils of Canada