Fossilized spermatozoa preserved in a 50-Myr-old annelid cocoon from Antarctica

• Published in: Biology Letters
• Main Authors: Bomfleur, Benjamin, Mörs, Thomas, Ferraguti, Marco, Reguero, Marcelo Alfredo, Mc Loughlin, Stephen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society
• Subjects: Annelida; Antarctica; Clitellata; Fossilization; Spermatozoa; Taphonomy; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1; Antarctic; Argentina; Argentino; Leech; Suecia; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Dirección Nacional del Antártico; Instituto Antártico Argentino
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11336/53429

The origin and evolution of clitellate annelids-earthworms, leeches and their relatives-is poorly understood, partly because body fossils of these delicate organisms are exceedingly rare. The distinctive egg cases (cocoons) of Clitellata, however, are relatively common in the fossil record, although...