Invavita piratica
Temporal range:
I. piratica (B-F) and its host, Nymphatelina gravida
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Maxillopoda
Subclass:
Pentastomida
Order:
Cephalobaenida
Genus:
Invavita
Species:
I. piratica
Binomial name
Invavita piratica
(Siveter et al, 2015)

Invavita piratica is an extinct, parasitic species of tongue worm, provisionally assigned to the order Cephalobaenida, from Herefordshire Lagerstätte, Ludlow-aged England. [1] It possessed a head, a worm-like body, and two pairs of limbs.[2]

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.[3] It is now in Oxford University Museum of Natural History. It was first described in the journal Current Biology in 2015.[1]

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.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Siveter, David J.; Briggs, Derek E.G.; Siveter, Derek J.; Sutton, Mark D. (2015). "A 425-Million-Year-Old Silurian Pentastomid Parasitic on Ostracods". Current Biology. 25 (12): 1632–1637. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.04.035. hdl:10044/1/23597. PMID 26004764.
  2. ↑ "Requiem for an ancient tongue worm". Yale News. 2015-05-21. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Gill, Victoria (22 May 2015). "A 425-million-year-old parasite found attached to host". BBC Online. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
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