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Naegleria ‐Like Cysts In Cretaceous Amber From Central Kansas
Author(s) -
WAGGONER BENJAMIN M.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of eukaryotic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 1066-5234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1993.tb04888.x
Subject(s) - naegleria , biology , cretaceous , naegleria fowleri , paleontology , protist , macrofossil , zoology , protozoa , botany , biochemistry , gene , holocene , immunology , meningoencephalitis
. Fossil protist cysts are reported from the mid‐Cretaceous amber of Ellsworth County, Kansas, which is rich in terrestrial microfossils but contains no known macrofossils. On the basis of their distinctive morphology, the cysts can be referred to the genus Naegleria (Schizopyrenida); they most closely resemble cysts of the living species Naegleria gruberi. This is the first known fossil record for this group of amoebas. the current phylogenetic position and paleoecological role of Naegleria are discussed in relation to this find; it provides direct confirmation of morphological stasis in this group, which had previously been inferred from rRNA sequence divergence data.,