Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• de Mazancourt, Valentin
• Wappler, Torsten
• Wedmann, Sonja

Titel

Exceptional preservation of internal organs in a new fossil species of freshwater shrimp (Caridea: Palaemonoidea) from the Eocene of Messel (Germany)

Ist Teil von

• Scientific reports, 2022-10, Vol.12 (1), p.18114-18114, Article 18114

Ort / Verlag

England: Nature Publishing Group

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• A new species of extinct freshwater shrimp was discovered in the Eocene deposit of the Messel Pit Konservat-Lagerstätte. This rare find is represented by only a few specimens, one of which showing exceptionally preserved soft tissues and other internal parts like the stomach with possibly gastric ossicles in place, branchiae, the ovary, and the left mandible, never described in a fossil shrimp. The new species Bechleja brevirostris n. sp. is characterized by a short rostrum bearing 6-8 dorsal spines and one ventral tooth, and long second pereiopods with strong chelae. One additional specimen shows a slightly different morphology and might belong to a different species. The systematic position of the species among the superfamily Palaemonoidea is discussed, as well as implications for the knowledge of the paleoenvironment of Lake Messel and the paleobiogeography of the Eocene.