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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ftunivlaplata:oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/86204 2023-05-15T13:47:46+02:00 Fossilized spermatozoa preserved in a 50-Myr-old annelid cocoon from Antarctica Bomfleur, Benjamin Mörs, Thomas Ferraguti, Marco Reguero, Marcelo Alfredo McLoughlin, Stephen 2015 application/pdf http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/86204 en eng Biology Letters vol. 11, no. 7 http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/86204 issn:1744-9561 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) CC-BY Ciencias Naturales Annelida Antarctica Clitellata Fossilization Spermatozoa Taphonomy Articulo 2015 ftunivlaplata 2020-10-04T00:01:46Z 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. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP): SeDiCI (Servicio de Difusión de la Creación Intelectual) Antarctic Leech ENVELOPE(-99.667,-99.667,-72.250,-72.250) The Antarctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP): SeDiCI (Servicio de Difusión de la Creación Intelectual) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivlaplata |
language |
English |
topic |
Ciencias Naturales Annelida Antarctica Clitellata Fossilization Spermatozoa Taphonomy |
spellingShingle |
Ciencias Naturales Annelida Antarctica Clitellata Fossilization Spermatozoa Taphonomy Bomfleur, Benjamin Mörs, Thomas Ferraguti, Marco Reguero, Marcelo Alfredo McLoughlin, Stephen Fossilized spermatozoa preserved in a 50-Myr-old annelid cocoon from Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Ciencias Naturales Annelida Antarctica Clitellata Fossilization Spermatozoa Taphonomy |
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. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bomfleur, Benjamin Mörs, Thomas Ferraguti, Marco Reguero, Marcelo Alfredo McLoughlin, Stephen |
author_facet |
Bomfleur, Benjamin Mörs, Thomas Ferraguti, Marco Reguero, Marcelo Alfredo 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 |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/86204 |
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 vol. 11, no. 7 http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/86204 issn:1744-9561 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766247826472304640 |