User:Chaotic Enby/sandbox/Salinella
| Chaotic Enby/sandbox/Salinella | |
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.jpg)
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| Johannes Frenzel's illustrations, 1892 | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Clade: | Platytrochozoa R. Blackwelder, 1963 |
| Phylum: | Monoblastozoa |
| Genus: | Salinella J. Frenzel, 1891[1] |
| Species: | S. salve
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| Binomial name | |
| Salinella salve | |
Salinella salve is a dubious species of a very simple animal which some have named as the sole member of the phylum Monoblastozoa. It was discovered in 1892 by Johannes Frenzel in the salt pans of Córdoba Province, Argentina and cultivated in a laboratory by him. This animal has not been found since and its real existence is considered as doubtful.[2][3] A project involving Michael Schrödl from the Zoological State Collection in Munich searched for Salinella in salt lakes across Argentina and Chile, but failed to find any specimens.[4][5][6]
Discovery
Salinella was discovered in soil samples from salt pans around Río Cuarto, Córdoba Province, Argentina, although the exact type locality was never specified.[7]
[First paragraph should explain how and from where the samples were received (if more precision is possible), mention how Frenzel wasn't the one to collect them, add context if needed]
[Then a paragraph about how the specimens were cultivated and studied, with any useful Frenzel commentary that posterity judged relevant]
[And then the publishing of the successive articles in 1891-92]
Description
According to Frenzel's description, S. salve is more organized than Protozoa, but still very primitive for a multicellular organism. They are characterised by their distinct anterior/posterior parts and being densely ciliated, especially around the "mouth" and "anus". They have only one layer of cells, and reproduce asexually by transverse fission of their bodies. Although sexual reproduction was suspected, Frenzel did not observe it.[8]
[This can be expanded more if possible]
Taxonomy
[Here we can have all of the debates about the position in the tree of life, with its tentative placement in "Mesozoa", the new phylum, etc.]
In 1963, American biologist Richard E. Blackwelder established the new phylum Monoblastozoa, containing only the genus Salinella and species S. salve, in his Classification of the Animal Kingdom.[9]
Later searches
In 2012, German malacologist Michael Schrödl from the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology led an expedition to Córdoba Province, Argentina with colleagues in order to recover specimens of Salinella. However, the location specified by Frenzel, originally described as a salt pan, was found to have been transformed into arable land. As Schrödl believed that Salinella could have been transported as a wind-borne spore, the expedition collected samples form various salt lakes across Cordoba Province. While replication of Frenzel's protocol was attempted, no specimens of Salinella were found throughout the cultured samples.[4][6]
See also
- Mesotardigrada – another high rank taxon whose sole member has not been independently verified to exist
References
- ^ a b Acosta 2015, p. 89.
- ^ Brusca, R. C.; Brusca, G. J. (2005). Invertebrados (2nd ed.). Madrid: McGraw-Hill-Interamericana. ISBN 978-0-87893-097-5.
- ^ Taylor, Christopher (June 27, 2007). "Salinella - what the crap was it?". Catalogue of Organisms.
- ^ a b Dunning, Hayley (October 1, 2012). "Gone Missing, circa 1892". The Scientist.
- ^ Viering, Kerstin (November 23, 2012). "Jäger der verborgenen Art". Spektrum.
- ^ a b Tihelka & Cai 2021, p. 1071.
- ^ Tihelka & Cai 2021, p. 1070.
- ^ Frenzel, Johannes (1892). "Untersuchungen über die mikroskopische Fauna Argentiniens". Archiv für Naturgeschichte (in German). 58: 66–96, Plate VII.
- ^ Blackwelder, R.E. (1963). Classification of the Animal Kingdom. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 27.
Bibliography
- Acosta, Luis Eduardo (March 2015). "Historia de la Zoología en la Universidad de Córdoba: los primeros años (1872-1916)" [History of Zoology at the University of Córdoba: the beginning years (1872-1916)]. Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (in Spanish). 2 (1). ISSN 0373-9686.
- Tihelka, Erik; Cai, Chenyang (2021-09-27). "Salinella". Current Biology. 31 (18): R1070–R1071. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.013.
