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Researchers have identified a tiny new species of centipede in a 99 million year old amber native to Myanmar, a Southeast Asian nation.
According to a study published in the journal zookeys, the creature that was named Burmanopetalum inexpectatum– Represents the oldest fossilized centipede of the order of the Callipodida animals, shedding new light on the evolutionary history of these animals.
"Imagine a little centipede of less than a centimeter [0.4 inches]: next to his modern parents, who measure up to 10 centimeters long, he would be considered a dwarf! "Said Pavel Stoev, senior author of the study of the National Museum of Natural History of Bulgaria Newsweek.
"Even more impressive, he lived at a time when terrible dinosaurs and huge arthropods roamed the Earth," he said. "We know, for example, that the old centipedes of the genus Arthropleura, who inhabited North America and Scotland 315 to 299 million years ago, were already 230 centimeters long. As for Burmanopetalum inexpectatumIt was most likely an inhabitant of the earth in warm temperate forests composed of trees, liverworts and dense and dense ferns of pine and sequoia.
The amber containing the specimen was in the hands of the German Patrick Müller, who owns one of the world's largest collections of animals found in Myanmar amber. In fact, the team was able to examine more than 460 amber stones containing centipedes. However, Stoev says that B. inexpectatum– whose name derives from the Latin word for "unexpected" – clearly outdated.
"As soon as we started examining the specimen, we realized its scientific value and here is how our project started," he said.
To analyze the specimen and confirm its novelty, the team used a new advanced technology called 3D X-ray microscopy, which allowed them to reconstruct a digital model of the animal's body and to observe tiny features that are rarely preserved in a fossil. The results revealed a number of unusual features: so unusual that scientists had to create a new suborder to classify it.
"Unlike its modern parents, the species has the particularity of having a last segment of special shape, which would have played a role in its biology," said Stoev. "Surprisingly, it also lacks characteristic growths on the back, which are present in all current members of the order Callipodida. Another unusual feature is her very simple eyes, while most of her modern peers have a complex vision. "
Researchers say that the identification of B. inexpectatum provides new information on the evolutionary history of his order.
"Being the first fossil member of the order of centipedes that Callipodida has ever discovered, we finally have strong evidence that this lineage first appeared at least 99 million years ago, "Stoev said. "In addition, we now know how the morphology of these centipedes has evolved and what characteristics have undergone the most significant changes."
Leif Moritz, a co-author of the Zoological Research Museum's Alexander Koenig study, said centipedes of this order seemed extremely fast in Burmese amber.
"We examined more than 460 millipedes trapped in Burmese amber and found only one specimen belonging to this order," Moritz said. Newsweek. "In addition, we can say that the basic body plan of animals has not changed much in the last 99 million years, such as vertebrates and insects, many extinct groups of which are known at that time."
"Until now, a great diversity of centipedes has been found in Burmese amber," he said. "In total, more than 500 specimens of centipedes have been identified, which belong to 13 of the 16 orders of centipedes still alive.For these fossils, it is the oldest or even the first known for several In addition to centipedes, there are many other animal plants found in Burmese amber such as several groups of extinct insects or even larger animal parts such as birds or reptiles. . "
Greg Edgecombe, an expert on fossil arthropods from the Natural History Museum in London, who did not participate in the research, praised the latest findings.
"The entire Mesozoic era – a period of 185 million years – has until now been sampled only for a dozen species of millipedes, but the new Burmese amber finds are quickly changing the deal, "he said in a statement. years, almost every 16 live centipede orders have been identified in this amber of 99 million years. The superb anatomical data presented by Stoev and his collaborators show that Callipodida is now a member of the club. "
This article has been updated to include comments from Leif Moritz.
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