Cenotextricella Penney

Penney, David, Dierick, Manuel, Cnudde, Veerle, Masschaele, Bert, Vlassenbroeck, Jelle, Hoorebeke, Luc Van & Jacobs, Patric, 2007, First fossil Micropholcommatidae (Araneae), imaged in Eocene Paris amber using X-Ray Computed Tomography, Zootaxa 1623, pp. 47-53 : 49

Cenotextricella Penney gen. nov.

Type species. Cenotextricella simoni sp. nov.

Etymology. ‘ Ceno ’ from Cenozoic, the geological era from which the type species originates, plus ‘ textricella ’ from Textricella , a closely allied extant genus.

Diagnosis. Male Cenotextricella can be distinguished from other (extant) Micropholcommatidae by the presence of a proximal, retrolateral knob-like pedipalpal patellar apophysis ( Fig. 9), by the short, curved embolus wrapped around a conductor in retrolateral view ( Figs 7, 9), and by the shape of the highly modified tibia ( Figs 7–10). Some extant Australian and New Zealand Textricella possess a similar patellar apophysis, and sometimes also a modified tibia (e.g. T. complexa Forster ), but these palpal segments are otherwise nothing like those observed in the type specimen. Females of Cenotextricella are unknown.

Description. See the description (below) for the type species.

Distribution: Early Tertiary (lowermost Eocene) Paris Basin amber forest.