Abstract

Short-tailed whipscorpions are a small arachnid order with 379 described species from (sub-)tropical regions of the world. The order has a fragmentary fossil record but has left a rich but hitherto undocumented fossil legacy in mid-Cretaceous amber from Myanmar, also called Burmese amber or Burmite. Here we review large series of schizomids from this amber type and propose four new genera for seven new species. In addition, we include a short revision of all schizomid genera based on 14 morphological characters. Although none of the fossils can be assigned to Recent genera, they resemble the modern fauna in general morphology and highlight relative morphological stasis in this arachnid order. The fossils show a general trend towards eye reduction, however some of the specimens retained corneate eyes. Comparative data suggest affinities of the fossils with the Recent Old-World fauna rather than American relatives. Furthermore, the fossils give evidence for a Gondwanan origin of the Burma Terrane. Overall, the data suggest a high diversity both at the species and genus level for Burmese amber schizomids. We discuss potential reasons for this richness that will likely necessitate the description of additional genera and species in future studies.