An archaic slime mould in Baltic amber

49 5 September 1013 1017 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00582.x

DÖRFELT, H., SCHMIDT, A. R. 2006. An archaic slime mould in Baltic amber. Palaeontology49, 5, 1013–1017.

Heinrich Dörfelt and Alexander R. Schmidt Several sporocarps of a slime mould are preserved on a plant fragment in a piece of Baltic amber (Tertiary, Eocene). The fossil is assigned to the extant genus Protophysarum (Myxomycota sensu stricto, Physarales) and described as P. balticum sp. nov. It is the third record of fossil sporocarps of a slime mould and the second record of the subclass Myxogasteromycetidae. All three records of fossil sporocarps are inclusions in Baltic amber. The find provides new insights regarding the occurrence and phylogeny of myxomycetes in the Palaeogene. Wiley Online Library