The last few weeks have been full of exciting discoveries on exceptionally preserved invertebrate fossils in amber inclusions. First, graduate student Marc A. Mapalo published a study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B describing the third-ever named species of tardigrade from Miocene-aged (ca. 16 million years old) amber from the Dominican Republic. The new species, Paradoryphorius chronocaribbeus, is the youngest extinct tardigrade known to date, and the only fossil representative of the Superfamily Isohypsibioidea discovered so far. Thanks to our collaborators Phil Barden (NJIT), Ninon Robin (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences), and Brendon Boudinot (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences), and the MCZ for supporting the Open Access publication of this work through the Wetmore Colles Fund. Artwork by Holly Sullivan. Some of the press coverage for this study includes CNN, LiveScience, and CBS. The light photograph of Paradoryphoribius was also featured in October's sharpest science shots, selected by Nature' s photo team. Finally, check out the coverage of this work on the Harvard Gazette.
This video interview with Daniela Hernandez from the Wall Street Journal explains the science behind the discovery of Paradoryphoribius chronocaribbeus and its significance for tardigrade evolution.
On a second publication in Science Advances, NSF research associate Dr. Javier Luque led an international team in an impressive study reporting the oldest modern-looking crab, Cretapsara athanata, from Cretaceous (ca. 99 million years old) Myanmar amber. Cretapsara is the best preserved crab in the fossil record, including delicate details of the external and internal anatomy (e.g. respiratory gills), and reveals the colonization of non-marine environments by crabs during the Mesozoic. This study also acknowledges the existence of sociopolitical conflict in northern Myanmar and only employed material predating the 2017 resumption of hostilities in the region. Dr. Luque and collaborators hope that conducting research on specimens collected before the conflict and acknowledging the situation in the Kachin State will serve to raise awareness of the current conflict in Myanmar and the human cost behind it. This research is supported by NSF Collaborative Grant 1856679. Artwork by Franz Anthony. The discovery has attracted major media attention, including National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNN. Also check out the coverage of this work by the Harvard Gazette.
