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Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Dissection and Grading of Ovarian Development in Wild-Type Female Insects
Published on: July 14, 2023
First identifiable Mesozoic harvestman (Opiliones: Dyspnoi) from Cretaceous Burmese amber
Gonzalo Giribet1, Jason A Dunlop
1Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. ggiribet@oeb.harvard.edu
Abstract:
Two inclusions in a piece of Upper Cretaceous (Albian) Burmese amber from Myanmar are described as a harvestman (Arachnida: Opiliones), Halitherses grimaldii new genus and species. The first Mesozoic harvestman to be named can be referred to the suborder Dyspnoi for the following reasons: prosoma divided into two regions, the posterior formed by the fusion of the meso- and metapeltidium; palp lacking a terminal claw, with clavate setae, and tarsus considerably shorter than the tibia. The bilobed, anteriorly projecting ocular tubercle is reminiscent of that of ortholasmatine nemastomatids. The status of other Mesozoic fossils referred to Opiliones is briefly reviewed.

