Look, this is a "moldy pig". George Ponar, a paleontologist and entomologist at Oregon State University, discovered.
According to a statement released yesterday (10 8), the mold pig is nicknamed because of its vague similarity with pigs in its fungus-rich diet. This creature is only 0.003 inch (100 micron) long, with four pairs of toes, a flexible head and an exoskeleton. They grow when they molt. Sialomorpha dominicana put forward the name of small science from the Greek word "fat pig" Model pigs cannot be placed in any existing invertebrates. They have the same characteristics as slow-moving animals, sometimes called water bears or moss pigs, and mites obviously do not belong to these two groups, Ponar said in a statement. According to Science Friday,
Ponar is probably the most famous paleontologist. He inspired a main plot in the iconic novel Jurassic Park by the writer Michael Clayton. Ponar and electron microscope scientist Roberta Hess (Ponar's wife) found that amber is a resin fossil of ancient conifers, which can perfectly preserve living things. In this pale yellow substance, the cellular mechanism of an organism can basically remain intact for thousands of years.
Related: Ancient footprints related to tiny vampires: 8 rare and unusual fossils.
Inspired by this discovery, Chritton dreamed of a world in which dinosaurs could be summoned from DNA wrapped in amber.
Back to reality, Ponar never stopped digging and discovering new creatures hidden in ancient resin. Recently, he and his colleague, Diane Nelson of East Tennessee State University, discovered hundreds of amber-coated model pig fossils from Dominica. According to the author, these specimens can be traced back to the middle Tertiary about 30 million years ago, and they will share their habitat with pseudomorphs, nematodes, protozoa and fungi. Ponar said:
"A large number of fossils provide additional evidence for their biological behavior, including reproductive behavior, developmental stages and food." . The researchers found that these creatures mainly feed on fungi, but also eat some small invertebrates. According to Ponar, although mold pigs may look like slow-moving animals at first glance, they represent a new family, a new genus and a new species of micro-invertebrates that were previously unknown. He and Nelson described their findings in the September 28th issue of the Journal of Invertebrate Biology. Ponar said: "According to our knowledge of existing and extinct micro invertebrates, southern Dominica seems to represent a new door." But we don't know when the Mofa lineage of Siam originated, how long it lasted, and whether there are descendants living here today.
Eight reasons why we like photos of slow-moving animals: ancient ants and termites locked in amber are tiny and magnificent; very small and amazing photos were first published in Life Science.