Cretoperipatus
| Cretoperipatus Temporal range: Cenomanian-Turonian
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Onychophora |
| Family: | Peripatidae |
| Genus: | †Cretoperipatus Engel & Grimaldi, 2002 |
| Species: | †C. burmiticus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Cretoperipatus burmiticus | |
Cretoperipatus burmiticus is an extinct species of velvet worm that is known from the Burmese amber in Kachin state of Myanmar, originating from the Cenomanian-Turonian stages of the Late Cretaceous.[1]
Discovery and naming
[edit]Both the holotype (AMNH Bu218) and various topotypes (BU-001467, BU-001468, ZZZ0066) were found in Burmese amber near Tanai Village of Myanmar’s Kachin State.[1][2] All fossils date to around 100 million years ago, meaning the animal lived at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous during the Cenomanian Age.[2]
The genus name "Cretoperipatus" is derived from "creto-", since it lived in the Cretaceous and "Peripatus", the type genus of the family Peripatidae. The species name "burmiticus" references the fossil being encased in Burmese amber.[1]
Description
[edit]The species can be assigned to one of the modern families, the Peripatidae. While only five leg pairs can be discerned, the information gained from the fossil is enough to preclude assignment to any known modern genus.[1]
It was hypothesised that onychophorans could have migrated from Gondwana to Southeast Asia via the northwards drift of India. Research published in 2016 concluded that the age of Burmese amber supports an earlier migration through Europe. The same study also came to the conclusion that Typhloperipatus williamsoni is the closest extant relative of Cretoperipatus.[2]
Classification
[edit]Cretoperipatus burmiticus is one of the two fossils confidently assigned to Onychophora, the other being the Late Carboniferous Antennipatus.[3][4] Based on its morphology, Cretoperipatus was assigned to the family Peripatidae. It groups with basal, Southeast Asia species like Eoperipatus totoro and Typhloperipatus williamsoni.[2]
Cretoperipatus was assigned to Peripatidae based on the following characteristics: its primary dermal papillae could be divided into basal and apical pieces, it had a genital pad between the penultimate legs, had spindle-shaped sensilla forming it’s antennal sensory field, and possessed a diastema and diastemal membrane on the inner jaw blade.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Grimaldi, David A.; Engel, Michael S.; Nascimbene, Paul C. (March 2002). "Fossiliferous Cretaceous Amber from Myanmar (Burma): Its Rediscovery, Biotic Diversity, and Paleontological Significance". American Museum Novitates (3361): 1–71. doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2002)361<0001:FCAFMB>2.0.CO;2. hdl:2246/2914. S2CID 53645124.
- ^ a b c d e Oliveira, I. S.; Bai, M; Jahn, H; Gross, V; Martin, C; Hammel, J. U.; Zhang, W; Mayer, G (2016). "Earliest Onychophoran in Amber Reveals Gondwanan Migration Patterns". Current Biology. 26 (19): 2594–2601. Bibcode:2016CBio...26.2594O. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.023. PMID 27693140.
- ^ Garwood, Russell J.; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Charbonnier, Sylvain; Chabard, Dominique; Sotty, Daniel; Giribet, Gonzalo (2016). "Carboniferous Onychophora from Montceau-les-Mines, France, and onychophoran terrestrialization". Invertebrate Biology. 135 (3): 179–190. doi:10.1111/ivb.12130. ISSN 1077-8306. PMC 5042098. PMID 27708504.
- ^ Giribet, Gonzalo; Buckman-Young, Rebecca S.; Costa, Cristiano Sampaio; Baker, Caitlin M.; Benavides, Ligia R.; Branstetter, Michael G.; Daniels, Savel R.; Pinto-da-Rocha, Ricardo (2018). "The 'Peripatos' in Eurogondwana? – Lack of evidence that south-east Asian onychophorans walked through Europe". Invertebrate Systematics. 32 (4): 840–863. doi:10.1071/IS18007.
External links
[edit]
Data related to Cretoperipatus at Wikispecies
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- Prehistoric onychophorans
- Late Cretaceous invertebrates
- Cretaceous invertebrates of Asia
- Monotypic onychophoran genera
- Onychophorans of southeast Asia
- Burmese amber
- Fossil taxa described in 2002
- Taxa named by Michael S. Engel
- Cenomanian genera
- Late Cretaceous animals of Asia
- Cretaceous animal stubs
- Onychophoran stubs