Whip spiders (Amblypygi), as their name suggests, resemble spiders (Araneae) in some aspects, but differ from them by their heart-shaped (prosomal) dorsal shield, their prominent grasping pedipalps, and their subsequent elongate pair of feeler appendages. The oldest possible occurrences of whip spiders, represented by cuticle fragments, date back to the Devonian (c. 385 mya), but (almost) complete fossils are known from the Carboniferous (c. 300 mya) onwards. The fossils include specimens preserved on slabs or in nodules (Carboniferous, Cretaceous) as well as specimens preserved in amber (Cretaceous, Eocene, Miocene). We review here all fossil whip spider specimens, figure most of them as interpretative drawings or with high-quality photographs including 3D imaging (stereo images) to make the three-dimensional relief of the specimens visible. Furthermore, we amend the list by two new specimens (resulting in 37 in total). The fossil specimens as well as modern whip spiders were measured to analyse possible changes in morphology over time. In general, the shield appears to have become relatively broader and the pedipalps and walking appendages have become more elongate over geological time. The morphological details are discussed in an evolutionary framework and in comparison with results from earlier studies.

顾名思义，鞭状蜘蛛（Amblypygi）在某些方面类似于蜘蛛（Araneae），但与它们的不同之处在于它们的心形（近端）背盾，突出的抓握式三脚趾以及随后延伸的一对触角附件。以表皮碎片为代表的最早的鞭状蜘蛛的发生可以追溯到泥盆纪（约385目），但从石炭纪（约300目）开始就知道了（几乎）完整的化石。这些化石包括保存在平板上或结节中的标本（石炭纪，白垩纪）以及保存在琥珀中的标本（白垩纪，始新世，中新世）。在这里，我们将回顾所有化石鞭蜘蛛标本，将它们中的大多数用作解释性图纸，或使用包括3D成像（立体图像）的高质量照片来使标本的三维浮雕可见。此外，我们用两个新标本对列表进行了修改（总计37个）。对化石标本以及现代鞭状蜘蛛进行了测量，以分析随时间推移可能发生的形态变化。通常，随着地质时间的推移，盾牌似乎变得相对较宽，而脚趾甲和步行附属物也变得更加细长。形态学细节在进化框架中进行了讨论，并与早期研究的结果进行了比较。