A transitional fossil mite (Astigmata: Levantoglyphidae fam. n.) from the early Cretaceous suggests gradual evolution of phoresy-related metamorphosis
| Autor: | Pavel B. Klimov, Henk R. Braig, Alexander A. Khaustov, Andrey V. Tolstikov, Dany Azar, Dmitry D. Vorontsov, Ekaterina A. Sidorchuk |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Gnathosoma media_common.quotation_subject Lineage (evolution) Science 010607 zoology Zoology Biology 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Article biology.animal Mite Animals Humans Metamorphosis Lebanon Ecosystem media_common Key innovation Mites Multidisciplinary Fossils Palaeontology Metamorphosis Biological Vertebrate biology.organism_classification Biological Evolution Amber Biological dispersal Instar Medicine Entomology |
| Zdroj: | Scientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021) Scientific Reports |
| ISSN: | 2045-2322 |
| Popis: | Metamorphosis is a key innovation allowing the same species to inhabit different environments and accomplish different functions, leading to evolutionary success in many animal groups. Astigmata is a megadiverse lineage of mites that expanded into a great number of habitats via associations with invertebrate and vertebrate hosts (human associates include stored food mites, house dust mites, and scabies). The evolutionary success of Astigmata is linked to phoresy-related metamorphosis, namely the origin of the heteromorphic deutonymph, which is highly specialized for phoresy (dispersal on hosts). However, the origin of this instar is enigmatic since it is morphologically divergent and no intermediate forms are known. Here we describe the heteromorphic deutonymph of Levantoglyphus sidorchukae n. gen. and sp. (Levantoglyphidae fam. n.) from early Cretaceous amber of Lebanon (129 Ma), which displays a transitional morphology ("missing link"). It is similar to extant phoretic deutonymphs in its modifications for phoresy but has the masticatory system and other parts of the gnathosoma well-developed. These aspects point to a gradual evolution of the astigmatid heteromorphic morphology and metamorphosis. The presence of well-developed presumably host-seeking sensory elements on the gnathosoma suggests that the deutonymph was not feeding either during phoretic or pre- or postphoretic periods. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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