Article: An archaic slime mould in Baltic amber
Publication: Palaeontology
Volume:
49
Part:
5
Publication Date:
September
2006
Page(s):
1013
–
1017
Author(s):
Heinrich Dörfelt and Alexander R. Schmidt
Abstract
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.