琥珀中發(fā)現1億年前的黏液霉菌

琥珀中發(fā)現1億年前的黏液霉菌

Researchers have discovered a 100-million-year-old slime mold and a lizard leg perfectly preserved in amber from a tree in Myanmar, a find described as “unique.”

研究人員在緬甸一棵樹上，發(fā)現了1億年前的黏菌和一條保存完好的蜥蜴腿，該發(fā)現被稱為“獨一無二”。

Also known as myxomycetes, these tiny slime molds are single-celled organisms that largely live in soil or rotting wood, feasting on bacteria. Occasionally, they can join together “to form complex, beautiful and delicate fruiting bodies, which serve to make and spread spores,” according to the press release.

這些微小的黏菌也被稱為黏菌，它們是單細胞生物，主要生活在土壤或腐爛的木材中，以細菌為食。根據新聞稿，它們偶爾會結合在一起，“形成復雜、美麗和精致的子實體，用于制造和傳播孢子”。

Finding fossilized versions of these slime molds is extremely rare, with only two confirmed reports of fruiting bodies found prior, both of which are between 35 million and 40 million years old.

發(fā)現這些黏菌的化石版本是極其罕見的，在此之前只發(fā)現了兩具確認的子實體，都在3500萬到4000萬年前之間。

“The fragile fruiting bodies were most likely torn from the tree bark by a lizard, which was also caught in the sticky tree resin and finally embedded in it together with the reptile,” said one of the study’s authors, Jouko Rikkinen, in the statement.

研究報告的作者之一Jouko Rikkinen在聲明中說:“這些脆弱的子實體很可能是被一只蜥蜴從樹皮上撕下來的，這只蜥蜴也被黏在樹樹脂里，最后和爬行動物一起被埋在樹皮里。”

It’s possible that the lizard detached the fruiting bodies from the myxomycetes at an early stage, unlocking information for the researchers to study.

蜥蜴可能在早期就將子實體與黏菌分離，為研究人員提供了信息。

“The fossil provides unique insights into the longevity of the ecological adaptations of myxomycetes,” paleontologist Alexander Schmidt added.

古生物學家亞歷山大·施密特補充說:“這個化石為黏菌的生態(tài)適應性壽命提供了獨特的見解。”

The study has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

這項研究發(fā)表在《科學報告》雜志上。