Thank you Ed!!!

I couldn't have had a better guide and inspiration 💚

@sabifo4.bsky.social @russellgarwood.co.uk @phil-donoghue.bsky.social

5- This study calls for exploration of new fossil sites to uncover their hidden history. Fossils of sea spiders might be found in different ecological settings, possibly rewriting their history once again. Keep an eye on this fascinating arthropods!

4- The pycnogonid crown group (=Pantopoda) preceeds the appearance of the first pantopod fossil by ~206.5 Ma. Why this hole in the fossil record? Sea spiders have fragile, low-fossilization bodies and likely lived in environments unsuitable for fossil preservation. #FossilRecord #Paleontology

3- We traced the split of major sea spider families between the Devonian and Jurassic.

2- We found out that Pycnogonida diverged from the rest of the chelicerates during the Cambrian (~539-510 million years ago) while modern sea spiders (order: Pantopoda) took another 100 million years and appeared between the Silurian and the Devonian (~435-367 mya). #CambrianExplosion

1- We dove deep into the evolutionary history of sea spiders, using molecular data (13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes, 18S rRNA and 98 UCEs) from 198 species and fossils to pinpoint when this group emerged and diversified. #EvolutionaryBiology