Invavita
| Invavita piratica Temporal range:
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| Genus: | Invavita
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| Species: | I. piratica
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| Invavita piratica (Siveter et al, 2015)
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Invavita piratica is an extinct, parasitic species of tongue worm, provisionally assigned to the order Cephalobaenida, from Ludlow-aged England. Despite the common name, tongue worms are actually highly modified crustacean arthropods closely related to barnacles and copepods, not worms; the Pentastomida are obligate parasites.[1][2] It possessed a head, a worm-like body, and two pairs of limbs.[3]
The 425-million-year-old Silurian fossil holotype specimen was found still attached to its fossilised host, a specimen of the ostracod Nymphatelina gravida, at an undisclosed location in England.[1] It is now in Oxford University Museum of Natural History. It was first described in the journal Current Biology in 2015.[2]
Etymology
The generic name is a New Latin compound word combining "invasor" and "avitus," and roughly translates as "ancient intruder." The specific name refers to piracy; both names referring directly to the organism's obvious parasitic lifestyle. [2]
References
- ^ a b Gill, Victoria (22 May 2015). "A 425-million-year-old parasite found attached to host". BBC Online. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
- ^ a b c Siveter, David J.; Briggs, Derek E.G.; Siveter, Derek J.; Sutton, Mark D. "A 425-Million-Year-Old Silurian Pentastomid Parasitic on Ostracods". Current Biology. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.04.035.
- ^ "Requiem for an ancient tongue worm". Yale News. Retrieved 5 June 2015.