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A 425-million-year-old Silurian pentastomid parasitic on ostracods

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Title: A 425-million-year-old Silurian pentastomid parasitic on ostracods
Authors: Siveter, DJ
Briggs, DE
Siveter, DJ
Sutton, MD
Item Type: Journal Article
Abstract: Pentastomids (tongue worms) are worm-like arthropods known today from ∼140 species [1]. All but four are parasitic on vertebrates. Their life cycle typically involves larval development in an intermediate host followed by maturation in the respiratory tract of a definitive terrestrial host. Fossil pentastomids are exceedingly rare and are known only from isolated juveniles [2-6]. The identity of the possible hosts of fossil pentastomids and the origin of their lifestyle have generated much debate. A new, exceptionally preserved species, described based on adults from 425-million-year-old marine rocks, is the only known fossil pentastomid associated with a host, in this case a species of ostracod crustacean. The pentastomids are preserved near eggs within the ostracod and also, uniquely for any fossil or living pentastomid, are attached externally to the host. This discovery affirms the origin of pentastomids as ectoparasitic on marine invertebrates. The terrestrialization of pentastomids may have occurred in parallel with the vertebrate invasion of land.
Issue Date: 15-Jun-2015
Date of Acceptance: 15-Apr-2015
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/23597
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.04.035
ISSN: 0960-9822
Publisher: Elsevier
Start Page: 1632
End Page: 1637
Journal / Book Title: Current Biology
Volume: 25
Issue: 12
Copyright Statement: © 2015 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Sponsor/Funder: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Funder's Grant Number: NE/F01693X/1
Keywords: Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Biology
Cell Biology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics
FUNCTIONAL-MORPHOLOGY
CRUSTACEAN
EVOLUTION
ARTHROPOD
FOSSILS
Animals
Crustacea
Fossils
Imaging, Three-Dimensional
Time Factors
Animals
Crustacea
Imaging, Three-Dimensional
Time Factors
Fossils
Developmental Biology
06 Biological Sciences
11 Medical and Health Sciences
17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
Publication Status: Published
Online Publication Date: 2015-05-21
Appears in Collections:Earth Science and Engineering
Faculty of Engineering



This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License Creative Commons