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Science 8 January 1993:
Vol. 259. no. 5092, pp. 222 - 224
DOI: 10.1126/science.259.5092.222
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Articles

Terrestrial Soft-Bodied Protists and Other Microorganisms in Triassic Amber

George O. Poinar Jr. 1, Benjamin M. Waggoner 2, and Ulf-Christian Bauer 3

1 Department of Entomological Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
2 Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
3 Rotmaurergasse 1,8162 Schliersee, Germany

Protozoa, cyanobacteria, sheathed algae, sheathed fungi, germinating pollen or spores, and fungal spores have been found in amber 220 to 230 million years old. Many of these microorganisms can be assigned to present-day groups. This discovery of terrestrial, soft-bodied protists that can be referred to modern groups indicates that morphological evolution is very gradual in many protists and that both structural and probably functional stasis extend back at least to the Upper Triassic period.

Submitted on August 11, 1992
Accepted on November 9, 1992


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Identification of Carboniferous (320 Million Years Old) Class Ic Amber.
P. S. Bray and K. B. Anderson (2009)
Science 326, 132-134
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Aquatic organisms as amber inclusions and examples from a modern swamp forest.
A. R. Schmidt and D. L. Dilcher (2007)
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EXCEPTIONALLY PRESERVED LATE ALBIAN (CRETACEOUS) ARCELLACEANS (THECAMOEBIANS) FROM THE DAKOTA FORMATION NEAR LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, USA.
P. J. van Hengstum, E. G. Reinhardt, F. S. Medioli, and D. R. Grocke (2007)
Journal of Foraminiferal Research 37, 300-308
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Triassic Amber of the Southern Alps (Italy).
G. ROGHI, E. RAGAZZI, and P. GIANOLLA (2006)
Palaios 21, 143-154
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LEPTOTRICHITES RESINATUS NEW GENUS AND SPECIES: A FOSSIL SHEATHED BACTERIUM IN ALPINE CRETACEOUS AMBER.
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Journal of Paleontology 79, 175-184
Testate amoebae in the Neoproterozoic Era: evidence from vase-shaped microfossils in the Chuar Group, Grand Canyon.
(2000)
Paleobiology 26, 360-385


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