Pseudarmadillo tuberculatus
| Pseudarmadillo tuberculatus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Superorder: | Peracarida |
| Order: | Isopoda |
| Suborder: | Oniscidea |
| Family: | Delatorreiidae |
| Genus: | Pseudarmadillo |
| Species: | †P. tuberculatus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Pseudarmadillo tuberculatus Schmalfuss, 1984
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Pseudarmadillo tuberculatus is an
History and classification
P. tuberculatus is known from four isopods, both female and male, all of which are
The fossil isopods were first studied by paleontologist Helmut Schmalfuss of the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart. Schmalfuss's 1984 type description of the new species was published in the journal Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie) and no explanation of the specific epithet tuberculatus was given. P. tuberculatus is one of the first two species of Pseudarmadillo described from the fossil record, the other species being Pseudarmadillo cristatus. Both are known only from Dominican amber and were described in the same 1984 paper.[2][4]
Description
The Pseudarmadillo tuberculatus specimens are moderately well preserved, though since isopods lack the wax coatings found in insects, they show deterioration and distortion from the resin after entombment. The species has an estimated adult body length of up to approximately 3.5 millimetres (0.14 in) and a width of 1.5 millimetres (0.059 in). In contrast to P. cristatus which has two ribs running the length of the body on each side, only one rib is on each side of P. tuberculatus. While both species have two rows of bumps running the width of the body between the ribs on each body segment, the front row of bumps is eleven across and the posterior row is ten across in P. tuberculatus rather the row and five and four in P. cristatus. The cephalon has notably enlarged antennal lobes that served to shelter the antenna when an individual curled into a defensive ball. The compound eyes of the species are composed five ommatidia.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Poinar, G.; Heiss, E. (2011). "New Termitaphididae and Aradidae (Hemiptera) in Mexican and Dominican amber" (PDF). Palaeodiversity. 4: 51–62.
- ^ a b c d Schmalfuss, H. (1984). "Two new species of the terrestrial isopod genus Pseudarmadillo from Dominican amber (Amber-Collection Stuttgart: Crustacea, Isopoda, Pseudarmadillidae)". Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie). 102: 1–14.
- ^ Woodruff, R.E. (2009). "A new fossil species of stag beetle from Dominican Republic amber, with Australasian connections (Coleoptera: Lucanidae)". Insecta Mundi. 0098: 1–10.
- ^ Helmut Schmalfuss (2003). "World catalog of terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea) — revised and updated version" (PDF). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Serie A. 654: 341 pp.