Turbellarian taxonomic database

Record # 17679
Author
Title
Journal
Poinar GO (2003)
A rhabdocoel turbellarian (Platyhelminthes: Typhloplanoida) in Baltic amber with a review of fossil and sub-fossil Platyhelminthes.
Invertebr Biol 122:308-312

Abstract / Notes

Palaeosoma balticus n. g., n. sp. (Rhabdocoela, Typhloplanoida), the oldest body fossil of a turbellarian and
the first representative of the phylum Platyhelminthes found in fossilized resin, is described from Baltic
amber 40 million years old. Characters of the fossil turbellarian are epidermal cilia, rhabdoids, a rosulate
pharynx, adhesive papillae, and sensory bristles. The body cavity contains developing eggs or capsules. The
fossil demonstrates that rhabdocoels had developed a terrestrial habit and were producing subitaneous eggs by
the Eocene. A summary of the fossil and sub-fossil records of platyhelminths is presented

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