page_title: Hughmilleria
section_title: Paleoecology
hierarchical_section_title: Hughmilleria / Paleoecology
caption_attribution_description: English: DOLICHOPTERUS, PTERYGOTUS, EUSARCUS, STYLONURUS, EURYPTERUS, HUGHMILLERIA. Title: Eurypterid genera of New York. Signature: Chas. R. Knight 1910 Deutsch: Titel: Eurypteride Gattungen von New York. Signatur: Chas. R. Knight 1910
context_page_description: Hughmilleria is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Hughmilleria have been discovered in deposits of the Silurian age in China and the United States. Classified as part of the basal family Hughmilleriidae, the genus contains three species, H. shawangunk from the eastern United States, H. socialis from Pittsford, New York, and H. wangi from Hunan, China. The genus is named in honor of the Scottish geologist Hugh Miller.
  H. socialis is the type species of Hughmilleriidae, a eurypterid family classified in the superfamily Pterygotioidea that is differentiated by their streamlined bodies, the enlargement of their medium-sized chelicerae and the presence of paired spines on the walking appendages. With the biggest specimen measuring 20 centimetres in length, Hughmilleria is considered a eurypterid of small size.
context_section_description: Fossils of Hughmilleria have been found in Silurian deposits from the Llandovery and Ludlow epochs. Together with its close relatives, Hughmilleria dominated the communities in brackish and fresh water, while Pterygotus and Eurypterus dominated marine environments.
  The Silurian deposits of the Pittsford Shale Member in which fossils of H. socialis have been found shelter various faunas of eurypterids, including Mixopterus multispinosus, Erettoperus osiliensis, Eurypterus pittsfordensis and Carcinosoma spiniferus, among others. Fossils from other organisms were also found, such as the crustacean Ceratiocaris and the ostracod Leperditia. Geological features of the formation, such as the friable and calcareous mudstone, the argillaceous dolomite and the lithology and associated biota suggests that the environment was marginal marine, very shallow and probably brackish.
caption: Painting painted in 1912 by Charles R. Knight depicting various eurypterids discovered in New York. The painting includes Dolichopterus, Eusarcana, Stylonurus, Eurypterus and Pterygotus. Hughmilleria can be seen in the bottom of the right corner.
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