''Micropilina'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
monoplacophora
Shell of Monoplacophora
Monoplacophora , meaning "bearing one plate", is a polyphyletic class of molluscs with a cap-like shell, inhabiting deep sea environments. Extant representatives were not recognized as such until 1952; previously they wer ...
n
mollusc
Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...
s. They are very small, mostly deepwater animals which have a superficially
limpet
Limpets are a group of aquatic snails with a conical gastropod shell, shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. This general category of conical shell is known as "patelliform" (dish-shaped). Existing within the class Gastropoda, ...
-like shell.
In addition to a number of living, deep-sea species, this genus also includes a shallow water fossil from the middle
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
of
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 ...
- and this is the only
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 preserve ...
representative of this lineage subsequent to the
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...
period.
All currently known ''Micropilina'' species are less than 1.5 mm in length. Except for ''
Micropilina minuta'', they are all found in the Southern Hemisphere.
Species
Species in the genus ''Micropilina'' include:
Recent species:
* ''
Micropilina arntzi'' Warén & Hain, 1992
* ''
Micropilina minuta'' Warén, 1989
* ''
Micropilina rakiura'' Marshall, 1998
* ''
Micropilina reingi'' Marshall, 2006
* ''
Micropilina tangaroa'' Marshall, 1992
* ''
Micropilina wareni'' Marshall, 2006
Fossil species:
References
Further reading
* Interactive 3D model contained within PDF of
External links
*
*
Monoplacophora
Mollusc genera
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