Diplochaetetes longitubus is an extinct species of cirratulid polychaete within the genus Diplochaetetes known from Namibian sedimentary rocks dating back to the Eocene.[1] It was initially described as a tabulate coral, but research carried out on present-day Dodecaceria aggregates and Diplochaetetes mexicanus fossils from the pacific coasts of the Americas has led researchers to classify the entire genus as cirratulid polychaetes.[2][3][4] For many decades, they've also been erroneously attributed to sponges.[5]
| Diplochaetetes longitubus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Clade: | Pleistoannelida |
| Clade: | Sedentaria |
| Order: | Terebellida |
| Family: | Cirratulidae |
| Genus: | †Diplochaetetes |
| Species: | †D. longitubus
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Diplochaetetes longitubus Weissermel, 1913
| |
A subspecies named Diplochaetetes longitubus vermicularis was also later described from Eocene Namibian sediments.[6]
Although present-day Dodecaceria and fossil Diplochaetetes aggregates from Peru have been confirmed to show identical double-phased biomineralization characteristics,[7] no detailed analysis has been performed on their Namibian counterparts so it's unclear whether the trait is shared on a broad genus basis.
References
edit- ^ Weissermel W (1913). "Uber tertiäre Versteinerungen von den Bogenfelser Diamantfeldern II. Tabulaten und Hydrozoen". Beiträge zur geologischen Erforschung der deutschen Schutzgebiete. 5: 84–111.
- ^ Reish DJ (1952). "Discussion of the colonial tube-building polychaetous annelid Dodecaceria fistulicola Ehlers". Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences. 51: 103–107. doi:10.3160/0038-3872-51.3.103.
- ^ Fischer R, Galli Oliver C, Reitner J (1989). "Skeletal structure, growth, and paleoecology of the patch reef-buildingpolychaete worm Diplochaetetes mexicanus wilson, 1986 from the oligocene of baja california (Mexico)". Geobios. 22 (6): 761–775. Bibcode:1989Geobi..22..761F. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(89)80071-3.
- ^ Fischer R, Pernet B, Reitner, J (2000). "Organomineralization of cirratulid annelid tubes-fossil and recent examples". Facies. 42 (1): 35–49. Bibcode:2000Faci...42...35F. doi:10.1007/BF02562565. S2CID 128949856.
- ^ Wilson EC (1986). "The first tertiary sclerosponge from the Americas". Palaeontology. 29(3): 577–583.
- ^ Weissermel W (1926). "Neues uber Tabulaten, Hydrozoen und eine Hexakoralle aus dem Tertiar der Bogenfelser Diamantenfelder". Die Diamantenwuste Sudwest-Afrikas. (ed Kaiser, H.). 2: 88–106.
- ^ Guido A, D'Amico F, DeVries TJ, Kočí T, Collareta A, Bosio G, Sanfilippo R (2024). "Double-phased controlled and influenced biomineralization in marine invertebrates: The example of Miocene to recent reef-building polychaete cirratulids from southern Peru". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 639: 112060. Bibcode:2024PPP...63912060G. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112060. S2CID 267306998.
 | This annelid-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This prehistoric animal article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |