''Cretoperipatus burmiticus'' is an extinct species of

velvet worm Onychophora (from grc, ονυχής, , "claws"; and , , "to carry"), commonly known as velvet worms (due to their velvety texture and somewhat wormlike appearance) or more ambiguously as peripatus (after the first described genus, '' Peripatus ...

that is known from

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. The ...

approximately 100 million years old. It was found in

Kachin state Kachin State ( my, ကချင်ပြည်နယ်; Kachin: ), also known by the endonym Kachinland, is the northernmost state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east (Tibet and Yunnan, specifically and respectively); Sh ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Taxonomy

The species can be assigned to one of the modern families, the

Peripatidae Peripatidae is a family of velvet worms. The oldest putative representatives of the family herald from Burmese amber dated to the mid-Cretaceous, around 100 Ma, with representatives from Dominican and Baltic amber attesting to a broader distribu ...

. While only five leg pairs can be discerned, the information gained from the

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

is enough to preclude assignment to any known modern genus.

Paleontology

''Cretoperipatus burmiticus'' is important in closing a gap between the only other known fossil onychophores, '' Helenodora inopinata'' from the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

and '' Succinipatopsis balticus'' plus '' Tertiapatus dominicanus'' from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

and

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

, respectively. It was hypothesised that onychophorans could have migrated from

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

to Southeast Asia via the northwards drift of India. Research published in 2016 concluded that the age of Burmese amber supports an earlier migration through Europe. The same study also came to the conclusion that ''

Typhloperipatus williamsoni ''Typhloperipatus'' is a genus of velvet worm in the family Peripatidae, containing the sole species ''Typhloperipatus williamsoni''. It is the only species in the phylum found in South Asia. The species was discovered in northeastern India in 19 ...

'' is the closest extant relative of ''Cretoperipatus''.

References

External links

* Prehistoric onychophorans Late Cretaceous invertebrates Cretaceous invertebrates of Asia Onychophoran genera Onychophorans of southeast Asia Burmese amber Fossil taxa described in 2002 Taxa named by Michael S. Engel Cenomanian genera Late Cretaceous animals of Asia Monotypic protostome genera {{Onychophora-stub