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Research Article

Arthropods in amber from the Triassic Period

Alexander R. Schmidt, Saskia Jancke, Evert E. Lindquist, Eugenio Ragazzi, Guido Roghi, Paul C. Nascimbene, Kerstin Schmidt, Torsten Wappler, and David A. Grimaldi
PNAS September 11, 2012 109 (37) 14796-14801; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1208464109
Alexander R. Schmidt
aCourant Research Centre Geobiology, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Goldschmidtstraße 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany;
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Saskia Jancke
bMuseum für Naturkunde zu Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany;
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Evert E. Lindquist
cCanadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes, Research Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, K.W. Neatby Building, 960 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0C6;
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Eugenio Ragazzi
dDepartment of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Largo E. Meneghetti 2, 35131 Padova, Italy;
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Guido Roghi
eInstitute of Geosciences and Earth Resources, National Research Council, Via Gradenigo 6, 35131 Padova, Italy;
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Paul C. Nascimbene
fDivision of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024-5192;
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Kerstin Schmidt
gFriedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Institut für Ökologie, Dornburger Straße 159, 07743 Jena, Germany; and
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Torsten Wappler
hSection Palaeontology, Steinmann Institute, University of Bonn, Nussallee 8, D-53105 Bonn, Germany
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David A. Grimaldi
fDivision of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024-5192;
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  • For correspondence: grimaldi@amnh.org
  1. Edited by* David L. Dilcher, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, and approved August 2, 2012 (received for review May 21, 2012)

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Abstract

The occurrence of arthropods in amber exclusively from the Cretaceous and Cenozoic is widely regarded to be a result of the production and preservation of large amounts of tree resin beginning ca. 130 million years (Ma) ago. Abundant 230 million-year-old amber from the Late Triassic (Carnian) of northeastern Italy has previously yielded myriad microorganisms, but we report here that it also preserves arthropods some 100 Ma older than the earliest prior records in amber. The Triassic specimens are a nematoceran fly (Diptera) and two disparate species of mites, Triasacarus fedelei gen. et sp. nov., and Ampezzoa triassica gen. et sp. nov. These mites are the oldest definitive fossils of a group, the Eriophyoidea, which includes the gall mites and comprises at least 3,500 Recent species, 97% of which feed on angiosperms and represents one of the most specialized lineages of phytophagous arthropods. Antiquity of the gall mites in much their extant form was unexpected, particularly with the Triassic species already having many of their present-day features (such as only two pairs of legs); further, it establishes conifer feeding as an ancestral trait. Feeding by the fossil mites may have contributed to the formation of the amber droplets, but we find that the abundance of amber during the Carnian (ca. 230 Ma) is globally anomalous for the pre-Cretaceous and may, alternatively, be related to paleoclimate. Further recovery of arthropods in Carnian-aged amber is promising and will have profound implications for understanding the evolution of terrestrial members of the most diverse phylum of organisms.

  • Acari
  • Cheirolepidiaceae
  • phytophagy
  • Carnian Pluvial Event

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: grimaldi{at}amnh.org.
  • Author contributions: A.R.S., E.R., G.R., and D.A.G. designed research; A.R.S., S.J., E.E.L., E.R., G.R., P.C.N., K.S., T.W., and D.A.G. performed research; A.R.S., E.E.L., E.R, G.R., T.W., and D.A.G. analyzed data; and A.R.S., E.E.L., E.R., G.R., P.C.N., T.W., and D.A.G. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • *This Direct Submission article had a prearranged editor.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1208464109/-/DCSupplemental.

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Arthropods in Triassic amber
Alexander R. Schmidt, Saskia Jancke, Evert E. Lindquist, Eugenio Ragazzi, Guido Roghi, Paul C. Nascimbene, Kerstin Schmidt, Torsten Wappler, David A. Grimaldi
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Sep 2012, 109 (37) 14796-14801; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1208464109

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Arthropods in Triassic amber
Alexander R. Schmidt, Saskia Jancke, Evert E. Lindquist, Eugenio Ragazzi, Guido Roghi, Paul C. Nascimbene, Kerstin Schmidt, Torsten Wappler, David A. Grimaldi
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Sep 2012, 109 (37) 14796-14801; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1208464109
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