Mid-Cretaceous cellular slime mold (Eukarya: Dictyostelia?) in Burmese amber

ABSTRACT

A cellular slime mould (Eukarya: Dictyostelia?) in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber is described as Paleoplastes burmanica gen. et sp. nov. The specimen consists of a clear, acellular plasmodium containing a central reddish pseudoplasmodium with an aggregation of myxamoebae, from which sorocarps have emerged. The sorocarps produced short chains of small globose to subglobose spores. While the higher taxonomic placement of the specimen remains unknown, the morphological features add to our knowledge of the structure and development of mid-Cretaceous slime moulds

KEYWORDS:

• Burmese amber
• slime mould
• Eukarya
• pseudoplasmodium
• sorocarp
• myxamoebae

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.