Arthropod
Mesolimulus walchi
Horseshoe crab
Mesolimulus walchi is the Solnhofen horseshoe crab, sometimes preserved at the end of its own death track, a trail metres long ending in the animal. Complete Mesolimulus sell for thousands and mortichnia (death-track) slabs for far more. Paint and outline enhancement are routine on commercial Solnhofen fossils; insist on UV photographs.
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
|---|---|
| Class | Merostomata |
| Order | Xiphosurida |
| Family | Limulidae |
| Group | Arthropod |
| Rank (PBDB) | genus· Paleobiology Database |
| Author | Størmer 1952· Paleobiology Database |
| Classification (PBDB) | Arthropoda › Xiphosura › Xiphosurida › Limulidae· Paleobiology Database |
| Range (PBDB) | 239–93.9 Ma· Paleobiology Database |
| PBDB occurrences | 14· Paleobiology Database |
Photographs
Elsewhere
Cite this article
Stratum Strata. "Mesolimulus walchi" (Taxon). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/taxa/mesolimulus-walchi. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-mesolimulus-walchi,
title = {Mesolimulus walchi},
author = {{Stratum Strata}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/taxa/mesolimulus-walchi}},
year = {2026},
note = {Taxon article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, pbdb, smithsonian. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.