Belongs within: Cottoidea.Contains: Abyssocottidae. Sculpins go wild Published 6 February 2008 Freshwater sculpins of the genus Cottus are a widespread Holarctic group of smallish fishes, belonging to the suborder Cottoidei. While most members of the Cottoidei are marine, there are a number of freshwater taxa—about 40 species in Cottus, three in Myoxocephalus (a genus also… Continue reading Cottinae
Recent Pages
Gliridae
Belongs within: Rodentia. The Gliroidea, dormice, are a group of mouse-like rodents, more closely related to squirrels than true mice. The name of the group refers to their hibernation (dormancy) during winter. Among living species, the Glirinae are found in Eurasia and northern Africa, while Graphiurus is found in sub-Saharan Africa. Nothing to do with… Continue reading Gliridae
Coelenterata
Belongs within: Eumetazoa.Contains: Trilobozoa, Ctenophora, Cnidaria. The cactus animals Published 24 January 2008 Chancelloriids are arguably the most frustrating group of fossil Problematica. In the cases of machaeridians, Microdictyon and palaeoscolecidans, the identification of articulated specimens revolutionised our understanding of the sclerite-bearing animal. In the case of chancelloriids, despite the availability of a number of… Continue reading Coelenterata
Acanthodii
Belongs within: Gnathostomata.Contains: Gyracanthidae, Climatiidae, Chondrichthyes, Ischnacanthidae, Acanthodidae. Scleritomes: Not just an invert thing Published 23 January 2008 Most of the problematic fossil taxa known only from their sclerites fall into the class of organisms dismissed by the sadly vertebrate-centric as “creepy-crawlies”. Nevertheless, the disarticulated scleritome issue is not unique to invertebrates. The figure above… Continue reading Acanthodii
Priapozoa
Belongs within: Cycloneuralia.Contains: Priapulida. Worm buttons Published 22 January 2008 The Palaeoscolecida were actually known as entire animals long before their dermal armation was described. However, confusion resulted when said armation was described as isolated problematic fossils before a connection was made between the animal and its armour (Ivantsov & Wrona, 2004). The photo above… Continue reading Priapozoa
Machaeridia
Belongs within: Annelida. Yay, machaeridians! Published 14 January 2008 The fossil record is replete with taxa whose nature is largely mysterious owing to incomplete remains. Most deposits only preserve the mineralised parts of an organism and, all too often, that just isn’t enough. And so, in 2008, we were all excited to learn that 150… Continue reading Machaeridia
Zoraptera
Belongs within: Polyneoptera. A choir of Zoraptera Published 7 December 2007 I may as well wrap up this series on obscure insect orders I seem to have been doing with one of the most obscure of all—the Zoraptera. Zoraptera are inhabitants of rotting logs in tropical forests (shown above in a photo from The Papua… Continue reading Zoraptera
Aegisthidae
Belongs within: Oligoarthra.Contains: Cerviniopsinae. Some copepods for your reading pleasure Published 3 December 2007 The copepods are a widespread group of aquatic crustaceans, another one of those groups of minute animals that are all around us, yet attract little attention because of their tiny size. Thousands of copepod species have been described from every imaginable… Continue reading Aegisthidae
Embiidina
Belongs within: Polyneoptera.Contains: Anisembiidae, Oligotomidae, Embiidae. The Embioptera, webspinners, are a group of small, retiring insects that construct silken galleries in secluded habitats. Female webspinners are wingless; mature males often have wings, but may lose them after dispersal. A seclusion of Embioptera Published 23 November 2007 A work colleague and I got into a conversation… Continue reading Embiidina
Anoplotherioidea
Belongs within: Artiodactyla. The camel that worked on two legs Published 13 November 2007 Well, “camel” isn’t technically correct. The animal in question, Anoplotherium, is a member of the Tylopoda, a clade of hoofed mammals whose only surviving members are the Camelidae (camels and llamas) but which was once more diverse. The title of Hooker… Continue reading Anoplotherioidea