The Ellismuir fossil arachnid- the only known Scottish Carboniferous trigonotarbid

Abstract

• Elaverimartus pococki Petrunkevitch 1953 from above the Kiltongue Coal Seam (Langsettian) of Ellismuir, Baillieston (Glasgow) is the only example of the extinct arachnid order Trigonotarbida recorded from the Carboniferous Coal Measures of Scotland. The fossil is from the Robert Dunlop collection and, although not so well preserved, historical documentation in the National Museums Scotland includes a preliminary drawing of the specimen prepared by Ben Peach, together with an unpublished manuscript name, ‘Palaeophalangium Scoticum’, implying an ancient Scottish harvestman (Arachnida, Opiliones). A mention in a published meetings report of the Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow unfortunately made this manuscript name available. Its status as a widely overlooked nomen nudum is clarified here for completeness. A proposal to treat Elaverimartus Petrunkevitch 1953 as a junior synonym of Aphantomartus Pocock 1911 would render E. pococki a junior homonym of an already synonymized species. Given the inadequate preservation of the holotype, we prefer to treat E. pococki as a nomen dubium and thus circumvent the need to replace the name.