Fossil scorpion from the Buntsandstein (Early Triassic) of France

Two new families. genera, and species of fossil scorpion are described from the Buntsandstein (Early Triassic) of France, the Voltzia Sandstone Formation. They give evidence for the recovery of terrestrial ecosystems severely reduced during the Late Permian mass extinction. One of these fossil families can be classified together with extant families within the Buthoidea (sensu Lourenco). This suggests that these modern scorpions belong to lineages present at least for 200 Myr. The second fossil family, tentatively placed in the superfamily Mesophonoidea Wills, exhibits several features inherited from Palaeozoic lineages. (C) 2004 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.