Ampezzoa
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''Ampezzoa triassica'' is an extinct species of gall mite described from the
Carnian The Carnian (less commonly, Karnian) is the lowermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Triassic series (stratigraphy), Series (or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Triassic Epoch (reference date), Epoch). It lasted from 237 to 227.3 ...
of northeastern
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. It lived as a parasite of Cheirolepidiaceae trees. The only known specimen, preserved in
amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...
, is 0.124 mm long. It resembles very much, in body shape and wax secretions, the contemporary gall mite '' Cymeda zealandica''. Along with '' Triasacarus fedelei'' and an unnamed dipteran, it is the oldest arthropod found enclosed in amber. ''Ampezzoa'' had a vagrant lifestyle on the surface of its host. It secreted waxy filaments, as a defense against predation and desiccation.


References

Triassic arthropods Mesozoic arachnids Fossils of Italy Late Triassic animals of Europe Fossil taxa described in 2012 {{acari-stub