Wolf spider burrows from a modern saline sandflat in central Argentina: morphology, taphonomy and clues for recognition of fossil examples.

ABSTRACT: Pavocosa sp. (Lycosidae) burrows found in an open sparsely vegetated area on the edge of the Gran Salitral saline lake, in central Argentina, are described. Burrows were studied by capturing the occupant and casting them with dental plaster. The hosting sediments and vegetation were also characterized. Inhabited Pavocosa sp. burrows display distinctive features as open, cylindrical, nearly vertical, silk lined shafts about 120 mm long, subcircular entrances, a gradual downward widening, and a particularly distinctive surface ornamentation in the form of sets of two linear parallel marks at a high angle to the burrow axis. Instead, casts of vacated Pavocosa sp. burrows showed some disturbances caused either by the reoccupation by another organism or by predation

SUBMITTER: Mendoza Belmontes F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6027663 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature