Scylla Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 I read this article and got to thinking. These things have been around for a billion years, they have some amazing structure and I never remember seeing a fossil of one! See the gallery that acompanies the article too. If we can get fungi fossils, why not slime molds? Maybe some of those brown smudge fossils from the ID section could have been these? Just wanted to get a discussion going with people who might teach me more about this topic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 This will be interesting.... anyone got any? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 Great thread Gus. Here are a few abstracts to toss into the discussion. Apparently, the only reliable slime mold fossils are preserved in amber. The slime molds are fascinating to consider with regard to eukaryotic evolution. Additionally, I have attached a pdf and photo on the fossil eukaryote, Grypania spiralis from the 2.1 billion year old Negaunee Iron Formation of Marquette County, Michigan. This topic has been on my radar for quite some time as one of the most perplexing deep-time paleontological puzzles yet to be solved. Thanks again for posting! A Fossil Myxomycete Plasmodium from Eocene-Oligocene Amber of the Dominican Republic Waggoner & Poinar - 2007 ABSTRACT: The first known fossil slime mold with part of the plasmodium preserved, from Eocene-Oligocene amber of the northern Dominican Republic, is described here. We assign it to the myxomycetes on the basis of its cytoplasmic structure. The paleoecological and evolutionary importance of this fossil is briefly discussed. An Archaic Slime Mould in Baltic Amber Dorfelt & Schmidt - 2006 Abstract: Several sporocarps of a slime mould are preserved on a plant fragment in a piece of Baltic amber (Tertiary, Eocene). The fossil is assigned to the extant genus Protophysarum (Myxomycota sensu stricto, Physarales) and described as P. balticum sp. nov. It is the third record of fossil sporocarps of a slime mould and the second record of the subclass Myxogasteromycetidae. All three records of fossil sporocarps are inclusions in Baltic amber. The find provides new insights regarding the occurrence and phylogeny of myxomycetes in the Palaeogene. The Cellular Slime Mold: Eukaryotic Model Microorganism Urushihara - 2009 Abstract: Cellular slime molds are eukaryotic microorganisms in the soil. They feed on bacteria as solitary amoebae but conditionally construct multicellular forms in which cell differentiation takes place. Therefore, they are attractive for the study of fundamental biological phenomena such as phagocytosis, cell division, chemotactic movements, intercellular communication, cell differentiation, and morphogenesis. The most widely used species, Dictyostelium discoideum, is highly amenable to experimental manipulation and can be used with most recent molecular biological techniques. Its genome and cDNA analyses have been completed and well-annotated data are publicly available. A larger number of orthologues of human disease-related genes were found in D. discoideum than in yeast. Moreover, some pathogenic bacteria infect Dictyostelium amoebae. Thus, this microorganism can also offer a good experimental system for biomedical research. The resources of cellular slime molds, standard strains, mutants, and genes are maintained and distributed upon request by the core center of the National BioResource Project (NBRP-nenkin) to support Dictyostelium community users as well as new users interested in new platforms for research and/or phylogenic consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NelsonFL Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 There are some great photos in this pdf j.1475-4983.2006.00582.x.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goroshkom Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 I'm amazed to read about them on TFF, because I'm big lover of slime molds... Yes, they obviously have no chance to fossilize outside the amber. There is a review (2008) of fossil myxomycetes. The authors doubt in slime-mold-affinity of that fossil from Dominican Republic, but write about fine preservation of some other finds, with truly microscopic details. But you can look at photos only if you find somewhere one German journal dating 1952... What about term "slime molds", it's a heap of several very distantly related groups: acellular slime molds (myxomycetes) and some small groups of cellular. Only acellular can produce more-or-less rigid structures - sporophores. (and my slime molds are here and here ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 Great links, papers, photos and teamwork! :sword: Paleontology is fun! :geek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 This video is absolutely fantastic... Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 Wow! This is amazing! I knew nothing about this till now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted October 9, 2011 Author Share Posted October 9, 2011 I somehow knew Scott would be into this one Thank you to all who answered, I've learned a lot so far. But I can't help wondering if some other fossil species could be misidentified slime molds. It would be easy to write them off as fungi (not that fungi are any less cool in their own right). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roz Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 What a fascinating video! Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 Here is another pdf on the early fossil record and phylogenetic relationship of slime molds within Eukaryota. And since you mention it Gus, one more paper to show there could be a fungus among us...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Here is another pdf on the early fossil record and phylogenetic relationship of slime molds within Eukaryota. And since you mention it Gus, one more paper to show there could be a fungus among us...... I don't know about a fungus, but Gus is having fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goroshkom Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Some more enigmatic ancient fungi (a bit offtop, because actually fungi aren't close relatives of slime molds)... Such things make me really feel the enormous grandiosity of our planet's history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now