''Luprisca incuba'' is an extinct species of

ostracod Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a Class (biology), class of the crustacean, Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 33,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant taxon, extant) have been identified,Brandão, S.N.; Antoni ...

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

. It was described as a new species in 2014, following discovery and analysis of fossilized specimens in mudstone rocks from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. A team of researchers from the universities of Yale and Kansas, Oxford and the Japan Agency of Marine Science and Technology made the discovery.

Etymology

The genus and species name were named after '' Lucina'', the goddess of childbirth in Roman mythology, and incuba, implying the mother was incubating her eggs.

Description

With long carapace, it is suggested that the animal was intact with a shell along with the delicate parts of limbs and embryos within the shell. The fossil was preserved in pyrite and was examined using X-Ray and CT Scan techniques.

Habitat and behavior

This species was discovered in the mudstone rocks from

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

, from a rock layer called the Lorraine Group. The discovery was said to be the earliest evidence for parental care in the fossils of ostracod. Although some reported this discovery as "oldest parenting of fossil record", however some

Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...

fossil records with brood care, like ''

Waptia ''Waptia'' is an extinct genus of marine arthropod from the Middle Cambrian of North America. It grew to a length of , and had a large bivalved carapace and a segmented body terminating into a pair of tail flaps. It was an active swimmer and like ...

'' are known. “The mother kept the eggs and the hatchlings in brooding pouches within her body until the young ones were big enough to go out on their own,” David Siveter, professor of geology at the University of Leicester in the UK who led the study, told

The Telegraph India ''The Telegraph'' is an Indian English daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Kolkata since 7 July 1982. It is published by the ABP Group and competes with the Middle-market newspaper ''The Times of India''. The newspaper is th ...

. A research paper by Siveter and his colleagues describing the ostracod fossils was published in the journal

Current Biology ''Current Biology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers all areas of biology, especially molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, neurobiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. The journal includes research artic ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q37026286, from2=Q16984870 Ordovician arthropods Prehistoric ostracods Fossil taxa described in 2014 Fossils of the United States Paleontology in New York (state) Myodocopida Monotypic ostracod genera