Sialomorpha

<i>Sialomorpha</i>

Sialomorpha

Extinct genus of enigmatic invertebrates

Sialomorpha dominicana, also known as the mold pig, is a panarthropod genus of uncertain affinities discovered in 30-million year old Dominican amber by George Poinar at Oregon State University and Diane R. Nelson at East Tennessee University.[1][2] It was placed in a new genus and family (Sialomorphidae) unto itself, and appears to represent a new phylum. S. dominicana shares some resemblance to tardigrades and mites.[3] It is about 100 μm long and grew by molting its exoskeleton.[4] It was probably an omnivore, feeding on minute invertebrates and fungi, including mold.[1]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Binomial name ...

References

  1. [1]
    Poinar, George; Nelson, Diane R. (September 28, 2019). "A new microinvertebrate with features of mites and tardigrades in Dominican amber". Invertebrate Biology. 138 (4). doi:10.1111/ivb.12265. ISSN 1077-8306. S2CID 204157733.
  2. [2]
    Dvorsky, George (October 9, 2019). "You've Heard Of Water Bears, But How About These Ancient Mould Pigs?". Gizmodo. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  3. [3]
    Irving, Michael (October 8, 2019). "Newly discovered "mold pigs" don't fit into any known animal group". New Atlas. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  4. [4]
    News Staff (October 9, 2019). "Mold Pigs: Strange Creatures with Features of Mites and Tardigrades Found in Amber". Sci News. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Sialomorpha, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.