Fossilized spermatozoa preserved in a 50-myr-old annelid cocoon from Antarctica
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...
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Enheten för paleobiologi
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ftnrm:oai:DiVA.org:nrm-1350 2023-05-15T14:05:22+02:00 Fossilized spermatozoa preserved in a 50-myr-old annelid cocoon from Antarctica Bomfleur, Benjamin Mörs, Thomas Ferraguti, Marco Reguero, Marcelo McLoughlin, Stephen 2015 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-1350 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0431 eng eng Enheten för paleobiologi Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Universita` degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy Divisio´n Paleontologı´a de Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina Royal Society Biology Letters, 1744-9561, 2015, 11:20150431, s. 1-5 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-1350 doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0431 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Annelida Clitellata fossilization spermatozoa taphonomy Antarctica Geology Geologi Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2015 ftnrm https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0431 2021-10-08T07:21:15Z 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 their potential for phylogenetic studies has remained largely unexplored. Here, we report the remarkable discovery of fossilized spermatozoa preserved within the secreted wall layers of a 50-Myr-old clitellate cocoon from Antarctica, representing the oldest fossil animal sperm yet known. Sperm characters are highly informative for the classification of extant Annelida. The Antarctic fossil spermatozoa have several features that point to affinities with the peculiar, leech-like ‘crayfish worms’ (Branchiobdellida). We anticipate that systematic surveys of cocoon fossils coupled with advances in non-destructive analytical methods may open a new window into the evolution of minute, soft-bodied life forms that are otherwise only rarely observed in the fossil record. Electronic supplementary material is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0431 or via http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org. Exceptional permineralized biotas - windows into the evolution and functional diversity of terrestrial ecosystems through time Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Swedish Museum of Natural History: Publications (DiVA) Antarctic Leech ENVELOPE(-99.667,-99.667,-72.250,-72.250) The Antarctic Biology Letters 11 7 20150431 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Swedish Museum of Natural History: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftnrm |
language |
English |
topic |
Annelida Clitellata fossilization spermatozoa taphonomy Antarctica Geology Geologi |
spellingShingle |
Annelida Clitellata fossilization spermatozoa taphonomy Antarctica Geology Geologi Bomfleur, Benjamin Mörs, Thomas Ferraguti, Marco Reguero, Marcelo McLoughlin, Stephen Fossilized spermatozoa preserved in a 50-myr-old annelid cocoon from Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Annelida Clitellata fossilization spermatozoa taphonomy Antarctica Geology Geologi |
description |
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 their potential for phylogenetic studies has remained largely unexplored. Here, we report the remarkable discovery of fossilized spermatozoa preserved within the secreted wall layers of a 50-Myr-old clitellate cocoon from Antarctica, representing the oldest fossil animal sperm yet known. Sperm characters are highly informative for the classification of extant Annelida. The Antarctic fossil spermatozoa have several features that point to affinities with the peculiar, leech-like ‘crayfish worms’ (Branchiobdellida). We anticipate that systematic surveys of cocoon fossils coupled with advances in non-destructive analytical methods may open a new window into the evolution of minute, soft-bodied life forms that are otherwise only rarely observed in the fossil record. Electronic supplementary material is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0431 or via http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org. Exceptional permineralized biotas - windows into the evolution and functional diversity of terrestrial ecosystems through time |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bomfleur, Benjamin Mörs, Thomas Ferraguti, Marco Reguero, Marcelo McLoughlin, Stephen |
author_facet |
Bomfleur, Benjamin Mörs, Thomas Ferraguti, Marco Reguero, Marcelo McLoughlin, Stephen |
author_sort |
Bomfleur, Benjamin |
title |
Fossilized spermatozoa preserved in a 50-myr-old annelid cocoon from Antarctica |
title_short |
Fossilized spermatozoa preserved in a 50-myr-old annelid cocoon from Antarctica |
title_full |
Fossilized spermatozoa preserved in a 50-myr-old annelid cocoon from Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Fossilized spermatozoa preserved in a 50-myr-old annelid cocoon from Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fossilized spermatozoa preserved in a 50-myr-old annelid cocoon from Antarctica |
title_sort |
fossilized spermatozoa preserved in a 50-myr-old annelid cocoon from antarctica |
publisher |
Enheten för paleobiologi |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-1350 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0431 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-99.667,-99.667,-72.250,-72.250) |
geographic |
Antarctic Leech The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Leech The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_relation |
Biology Letters, 1744-9561, 2015, 11:20150431, s. 1-5 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-1350 doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0431 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0431 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
20150431 |
_version_ |
1766277187336404992 |