Maculicorpus
| Maculicorpus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Placozoa |
| Genus: | †Maculicorpus Knaust, 2021 |
| Species: | †M. microbialis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Maculicorpus microbialis Knaust, 2021 | |
Maculicorpus is a fossil genus, potentially a placozoan, from the Middle Triassic of Germany. If its identity is correct, it is the only placozoan known from the fossil record. It comprises a single known species, Maculicorpus microbialis.[1]
Discovery
[edit]Maculicorpus is known from a microbialite bed discovered in the Troistedt Quarry near Weimar, as part of the Meißner Formation. The microbialite has been dated to the late Anisian to early Ladinian.[2]
Description
[edit]The specimens referred to Maculicorpus appear as flat patches, brown to ochre in color, varying between 1 mm (0.04 in) and 5 mm (0.20 in) in diameter. The outline is irregular and varies in overall shape from circular to elongate, fan-shaped or multi-lobed. The holotype, 4.5 mm (0.18 in) in length, is constricted in the middle, appearing as an aggregate of a larger, irregularly rounded portion and a smaller elliptical one.[1] Maculicorpus is larger than any modern-day placozoan.[3]
Classification
[edit]A study on the taphonomy of a modern-day placozoan, Trichoplax, cast uncertainty on the placozoan affinity of Maculicorpus due to the fact that placozoans appear to disintegrate into their component cells upon death in a manner inconsistent with the observed preservation of Maculicorpus. It was stressed more evidence for placozoan affinity is necessary, and that if the genus is a placozoan it must have been unlike modern forms in certain ways.[4]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Knaust 2021, p. 5–6.
- ↑ Knaust 2021, p. 5.
- ↑ Tessler et al. 2022, p. 7.
- ↑ Naimark et al. 2025, p. 345.
Works cited
[edit]- Knaust, Dirk (2021-10-07). "A microbialite with its entombed benthic community from the Middle Triassic (Anisian-Ladinian) Muschelkalk Group of Germany". Palaeontographica Abteilung A. 320 (1–3): 1–63. Bibcode:2021PalAA.320....1K. doi:10.1127/pala/2021/0114. ISSN 0375-0442.
- Tessler, Michael; Neumann, Johannes S.; Kamm, Kai; Osigus, Hans-Jürgen; Eshel, Gil; Narechania, Apurva; Burns, John A.; DeSalle, Rob; Schierwater, Bernd (2022-12-08). "Phylogenomics and the first higher taxonomy of Placozoa, an ancient and enigmatic animal phylum". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 10. Bibcode:2022FrEEv..1016357T. doi:10.3389/fevo.2022.1016357. OSTI 1902587.
- Naimark, Elena; Lyupina, Yulia; Finoshin, Alexander; Nikitin, Mikhail (2025). "Taphonomic experiments shed light on fossilization potential of placozoa". PALAIOS. 40 (11): 336–348. doi:10.2110/palo.2024.020.
| |||||||||
| Polyplacotomia |  | ||||||||
| Uniplacotomia |
| ||||||||
.jpg){kind=small} | This article about a prehistoric invertebrate is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |