Oldest North American orthostern scorpion from the Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian: Bashkirian) Pottsville Formation of Alabama, USA
- 1College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia GPO 2100 Australia
- 2Division of Paleontology (Invertebrates), American Museum of Natural History, New York City, NY USA
- 3The University of Alabama Museums Research & Collections, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 USA
Abstract
Scorpions are an ancient chelicerate group with a fossil record extending back to the Silurian and a peak in reported fossil forms during the Carboniferous. Most Carboniferous scorpions are from Coal Measures sites, a small number of which exceptionally preserve evidence of respiratory structures. To expand the record of such material, we present a new fossil scorpion specimen from the Pennsylvanian (Bashkirian) Pottsville Formation from the Union Chapel Mine, Alabama, USA. We demonstrate that UV imagery is a useful tool for examining fossil scorpions, as it can clearly illustrate exoskeletal sections, and other important morphological structures. This specimen shows probable intrasternal spiracles, illustrating this is one of the oldest members of the derived scorpion infraorder Orthosterni, and potentially preserves evidence of book lungs. Due to the lack of taxonomically important features, such as coxosternal morphologies, we cannot identify the specimen beyond Orthosterni. We used Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) to explore fossil preservation, determining the specimen is preserved almost entirely as carbon, indicating it had undergone kerogenisation. This body fossil complements walking trace fossils from the same site attributed to scorpions, represents the first fossil scorpion from the southeastern USA, and provides more evidence for extensive diagenetic alteration of cuticle in fossil scorpions from Coal Measures.
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BibTeX
@article{conway2026oldest,
title = {{Oldest North American orthostern scorpion from the Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian: Bashkirian) Pottsville Formation of Alabama, USA}},
author = {Gen A. Conway and Russell D. C. Bicknell and Bruno A. Buzatto and Adiël A. Klompmaker},
journal = {Die Naturwissenschaften},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1007/s00114-026-02180-6},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-026-02180-6},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Oldest North American orthostern scorpion from the Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian: Bashkirian) Pottsville Formation of Alabama, USA
AU - Gen A. Conway
AU - Russell D. C. Bicknell
AU - Bruno A. Buzatto
AU - Adiël A. Klompmaker
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
JO - Die Naturwissenschaften
DO - 10.1007/s00114-026-02180-6
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-026-02180-6
AB - Scorpions are an ancient chelicerate group with a fossil record extending back to the Silurian and a peak in reported fossil forms during the Carboniferous. Most Carboniferous scorpions are from Coal Measures sites, a small number of which exceptionally preserve evidence of respiratory structures. To expand the record of such material, we present a new fossil scorpion specimen from the Pennsylvanian (Bashkirian) Pottsville Formation from the Union Chapel Mine, Alabama, USA. We demonstrate that UV imagery is a useful tool for examining fossil scorpions, as it can clearly illustrate exoskeletal sections, and other important morphological structures. This specimen shows probable intrasternal spiracles, illustrating this is one of the oldest members of the derived scorpion infraorder Orthosterni, and potentially preserves evidence of book lungs. Due to the lack of taxonomically important features, such as coxosternal morphologies, we cannot identify the specimen beyond Orthosterni. We used Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) to explore fossil preservation, determining the specimen is preserved almost entirely as carbon, indicating it had undergone kerogenisation. This body fossil complements walking trace fossils from the same site attributed to scorpions, represents the first fossil scorpion from the southeastern USA, and provides more evidence for extensive diagenetic alteration of cuticle in fossil scorpions from Coal Measures.
SN - 0028-1042
SN - 1432-1904
ER -