Rhyniella

Rhyniella is a genus of fossil springtails (Collembola) from the Rhynie chert, which formed during the Pragian stage of the Early Devonian. One species has been described, Rhyniella praecursor. For some time it was believed to be the only hexapod from the Early Devonian (c. 410 million years ago)[1]

Rhyniella
Temporal range: Early Devonian,
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subclass: Collembola
Genus: †Rhyniella
Species:
†R. praecursor
Binomial name
†Rhyniella praecursor

History

Its remains were discovered in 1919. Reconstructed from the scattered bits and pieces of its exoskeleton, R. praecursor was described in 1926, and at first believed to be a larval insect.[2] This study also described euthycarcinoid Heterocrania, and supposed larval insect mouthparts, later redescribed as Rhyniognatha hirsti in 1928[1] and considered as an insect[3] or myriapod.[4]

Description

Rhyniella grew to a length of about 1–2 mm and would have been a scavenger, feeding on rotting matter.[5]

References
  1. R. J. Tillyard. 1928. Some remarks on the Devonian fossil insects from the Rhynie chert beds, Old Red Sandstone. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 76:65-71
  2. Hirst, Stanley; Maulik, S. (1926). "On some Arthropod Remains from the Rhynie Chert (Old Red Sandstone)". Geological Magazine. 63 (2): 69–71. Bibcode:1926GeoM...63...69H. doi:10.1017/S0016756800083692. S2CID 129777833.
  3. Engel, M. S.; Grimaldi, D. A. (2004). "New light shed on the oldest insect". Nature. 427 (6975): 627–630. Bibcode:2004Natur.427..627E. doi:10.1038/nature02291. PMID 14961119. S2CID 4431205.
  4. Haug, Carolin; Haug, Joachim T. (2017-05-30). "The presumed oldest flying insect: more likely a myriapod?". PeerJ. 5: e3402. doi:10.7717/peerj.3402. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 5452959. PMID 28584727.
  5. Parker, Steve. Dinosaurus: the complete guide to dinosaurs. Firefly Books Inc, 2003. Pg. 74
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