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da Silva Paiva T, de Souza Carvalho I. A putatively extinct higher taxon of Spirotrichea (Ciliophora) from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19110. [PMID: 34580335 PMCID: PMC8476538 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-97709-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Fossil microeukaryotes are key elements for understanding ancient ecosystems at microscopic level and improving the knowledge on the diversification of microbial life as a whole. We describe Palaeohypothrix bahiensis gen. et sp. nov., an exceptionally well-preserved Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian-Barremian; 145-125 Mya) amber-entrapped microeukaryote, identified as a spirotrich ciliate. The preservation of structures interpreted as the nuclear apparatus and remains of the ciliature revealed a novel ground plan, not found in modern Spirotrichea, thus representing a putatively extinct higher taxon lineage, viz. the Palaeohypotricha nov. tax. Based on cladistic analysis, the new taxon is hypothesized as phylogenetically related to the Protohypotrichia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thiago da Silva Paiva
- Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Biologia, Avenida Carlos Chagas Filho, 373, Bloco A, Sala 074, Ilha do Fundão, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-902, Brazil.
| | - Ismar de Souza Carvalho
- Departamento de Geologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Geociências, Avenida Athos da Silveira Ramos, 274, Bloco F, Ilha do Fundão Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21949-900, Brazil
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A Myanmar amber cockroach with protruding feces contains pollen and a rich microcenosis. Naturwissenschaften 2020; 107:13. [DOI: 10.1007/s00114-020-1669-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Revised: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
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Thiel V, Lausmaa J, Sjövall P, Ragazzi E, Seyfullah LJ, Schmidt AR. Microbe-like inclusions in tree resins and implications for the fossil record of protists in amber. GEOBIOLOGY 2016; 14:364-373. [PMID: 27027519 DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2015] [Accepted: 01/18/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
During the past two decades, a plethora of fossil micro-organisms have been described from various Triassic to Miocene ambers. However, in addition to entrapped microbes, ambers commonly contain microscopic inclusions that sometimes resemble amoebae, ciliates, microfungi, and unicellular algae in size and shape, but do not provide further diagnostic features thereof. For a better assessment of the actual fossil record of unicellular eukaryotes in amber, we studied equivalent inclusions in modern resin of the Araucariaceae; this conifer family comprises important amber-producers in Earth history. Using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), we investigated the chemical nature of the inclusion matter and the resin matrix. Whereas the matrix, as expected, showed a more hydrocarbon/aromatic-dominated composition, the inclusions contain abundant salt ions and polar organics. However, the absence of signals characteristic for cellular biomass, namely distinctive proteinaceous amino acids and lipid moieties, indicates that the inclusions do not contain microbial cellular matter but salts and hydrophilic organic substances that probably derived from the plant itself. Rather than representing protists or their remains, these microbe-like inclusions, for which we propose the term 'pseudoinclusions', consist of compounds that are immiscible with the terpenoid resin matrix and were probably secreted in small amounts together with the actual resin by the plant tissue. Consequently, reports of protists from amber that are only based on the similarity of the overall shape and size to extant taxa, but do not provide relevant features at light-microscopical and ultrastructural level, cannot be accepted as unambiguous fossil evidence for these particular groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Thiel
- Geobiology, Geoscience Centre, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
| | - J Lausmaa
- SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Borås, Sweden
| | - P Sjövall
- SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Borås, Sweden
| | - E Ragazzi
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - L J Seyfullah
- Geobiology, Geoscience Centre, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
| | - A R Schmidt
- Geobiology, Geoscience Centre, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
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Schweitzer MH, Lindgren J, Moyer AE. Melanosomes and ancient coloration re-examined: A response to Vinther 2015 (DOI 10.1002/bies.201500018). Bioessays 2015; 37:1174-83. [PMID: 26434749 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201500061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Round to elongate microbodies associated with fossil vertebrate soft tissues were interpreted as microbial traces until 2008, when they were re-described as remnant melanosomes - intracellular, pigment-containing eukaryotic organelles. Since then, multiple claims for melanosome preservation and inferences of organismal color, behavior, and physiology have been advanced, based upon the shape and size of these microstructures. Here, we re-examine evidence for ancient melanosomes in light of information reviewed in Vinther (2015), and literature regarding the preservation potential of microorganisms and their exopolymeric secretions. We: (i) address statements in Vinther's recent (2015) review that are incorrect or which misrepresent published data; (ii) discuss the need for caution in interpreting "voids" and microbodies associated with degraded fossil soft tissues; (iii) present evidence that microorganisms are in many cases an equally parsimonious source for these "voids" as are remnant melanosomes; and (iv) suggest methods/criteria for differentiating melanosomes from microbial traces in the fossil record.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary H Schweitzer
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.,North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC, USA.,Department of Geology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | | | - Alison E Moyer
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
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Singh V, Pandita SK, Tewari R, van Hengstum PJ, Pillai SSK, Agnihotri D, Kumar K, Bhat GD. Thecamoebians (Testate Amoebae) Straddling the Permian-Triassic Boundary in the Guryul Ravine Section, India: Evolutionary and Palaeoecological Implications. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0135593. [PMID: 26288245 PMCID: PMC4546057 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2014] [Accepted: 07/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Exceptionally well-preserved organic remains of thecamoebians (testate amoebae) were preserved in marine sediments that straddle the greatest extinction event in the Phanerozoic: the Permian-Triassic Boundary. Outcrops from the Late Permian Zewan Formation and the Early Triassic Khunamuh Formation are represented by a complete sedimentary sequence at the Guryul Ravine Section in Kashmir, India, which is an archetypal Permian-Triassic boundary sequence. Previous biostratigraphic analysis provides chronological control for the section, and a perspective of faunal turnover in the brachiopods, ammonoids, bivalves, conodonts, gastropods and foraminifera. Thecamoebians were concentrated from bulk sediments using palynological procedures, which isolated the organic constituents of preserved thecamoebian tests. The recovered individuals demonstrate exceptional similarity to the modern thecamoebian families Centropyxidae, Arcellidae, Hyalospheniidae and Trigonopyxidae, however, the vast majority belong to the Centropyxidae. This study further confirms the morphologic stability of the thecamoebian lineages through the Phanerozoic, and most importantly, their apparent little response to an infamous biological crisis in Earth's history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vartika Singh
- Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow, 226007, India
| | | | - Rajni Tewari
- Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow, 226007, India
- * E-mail:
| | - Peter J van Hengstum
- Department of Marine Sciences, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, Texas, 77553, United States of America
| | - Suresh S. K. Pillai
- Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow, 226007, India
| | - Deepa Agnihotri
- Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow, 226007, India
| | - Kamlesh Kumar
- Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow, 226007, India
| | - G. D. Bhat
- Directorate of Geology and Mining, Jammu and Kashmir Government, Srinagar, 190002, India
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Thecamoebians from Late Permian Gondwana sediments of peninsular India. Eur J Protistol 2013; 50:89-105. [PMID: 23876495 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejop.2013.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2012] [Revised: 05/16/2013] [Accepted: 05/31/2013] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The evolutionary history of thecamoebians (testate amoebae) extends back to the Neoproterozoic Era. However, until now, these have had a restricted, discontinuous and modest record across the world. The studied sediment of Raniganj Formation (Godavari Graben), Andhra Pradesh, India has been assigned as Late Permian on the basis of co-occurring age-diagnostic Late Permian palynomorphs. About sixteen thecamoebian species and one taxon incertae sedis have been recorded here in the palynological slides on the basis of shell morphology and morphometry. Out of these, five belong to the family Arcellidae, seven to Centropyxidae, two to Trigonopyxidae, one to Difflugiidae, one to Plagiopyxidae, and one is regarded incertae sedis. The morphometric characteristics of fossil forms resemble their corresponding extant species studied from ecologically diverse fresh water wetlands in India. In general, the ratio of shell diameter and aperture diameter of Late Permian fossil and extant specimens show significant correlation in all the studied species. Except that, the ratio of shell length and breadth is the distinguishing feature between Centropyxis aerophila and C. aerophila 'sylvatica', rather than the ratio of shell length and longest diameter of the shell aperture in both fossil and extant forms. The study elucidates the minimal morphological evolution in thecamoebians and their survival during mass extinction periods and stressful environmental conditions over the geological timescale.
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CORNUAULT JOSSELIN, BATAILLARD ANAÏS, WARREN BENH, LOOTVOET AMÉLIE, MIRLEAU PASCAL, DUVAL THOMAS, MILÁ BORJA, THÉBAUD CHRISTOPHE, HEEB PHILIPP. The role of immigration andin-situradiation in explaining blood parasite assemblages in an island bird clade. Mol Ecol 2012; 21:1438-52. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2012.05483.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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SCHMIDT ALEXANDERR, GIRARD VINCENT, PERRICHOT VINCENT, SCHÖNBORN WILFRIED. Testate Amoebae from a Cretaceous Forest Floor Microbiocoenosis of France. J Eukaryot Microbiol 2010; 57:245-8. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1550-7408.2010.00471.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Brasier MD, Callow RHT, Menon LR, Liu AG. Osmotrophic Biofilms: From Modern to Ancient. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-3799-2_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
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