Mycterops is a genus of prehistoric eurypterid of the family Mycteroptidae. Mycterops lived during the Carboniferous period in Europe and North America.
Description Mycteroptids were medium-sized to fairly large. Their outer surface had numerous scales and reticulate ornamentation. Their first and possibly second tergites (dorsal surfaces of the abdominal sections) were strongly developed. Their legs resembled those of Stylonurus. The prosoma (head) was subtrapezoid, with small compound eyes. 1955. Merostomata. Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part P Arthropoda 2, Chelicerata, P39.
Classification Three of the genera included in the Mycteroptidae - Mycterops, Woodwardopterus, and Megarachne - might represent different ontogenetic stages of each other based on the sizes of the referred specimens and the patterns of mucronation. This would sink the genera Woodwardopterus and Megarachne into Mycterops.
Mycterops whitei is a fragmentary species that might not be referrable to the genus at all if more complete specimens show that it has a caudal postabdomen.
Species The species currently seen as valid species of the genus are:Dunlop, J. A., Penney, D. & Jekel, D. 2015. A summary list of fossil spiders and their relatives. In World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch, version 16.0 http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/resources/fossils/Fossils16.0.pdf (PDF). Mycterops matthieui Pruvost, 1924 — Carboniferous, Belgium. Mycterops ordinatus Cope, 1886 — Carboniferous, Pennsylvania (United States). Invalid/reassigned species:
"Mycterops" blairi Waterston, 1968 — Carboniferous, Scotland, assigned to Glyptoscorpius (=Hibbertopterus?). "Mycterops" whitei Schram, 1984 — Carboniferous, Iowa (United States), not congeneric with M. ordinatus, perhaps a crustacean and not a eurypterid.
See also
List of eurypterids
References