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| Family: | Smarididae Kramer, 1878 |
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Smarididae is a family of mites belonging to the order Trombidiformes. These large predatory mites have long oval bodies, distinctively pointed in front. They are usually red and densely hairy with slender legs, sometimes very long. They have either one or two pairs of eyes.
The Cretaceous smaridid Immensmaris chewbaccei had idiosoma of more than 8 mm (0.31 in) in length and was the largest fossil acariform mite and also the largest erythraeoid mite ever recorded. [1]
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 the entire Phanerozoic. The name is derived from the Latin creta, "chalk", which is abundant in the latter half of the period. It is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation Kreide.
Mites are small arachnids. Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evidence of a close relationship.
Sauroposeidon is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known from several incomplete specimens including a bone bed and fossilized trackways that have been found in the U.S. states of Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Texas.
The Acariformes, also known as the Actinotrichida, are the most diverse of the two superorders of mites. Over 32,000 described species are found in 351 families, with an estimated total of 440,000 to 929,000 species, including undescribed species.
Parasitiformes are a superorder of Arachnids, constituting one of the two major groups of mites, alongside Acariformes. Parasitiformes has, at times, been classified at the rank of order or suborder.
Ichthyornithes is an extinct group of toothed avialans very closely related to the common ancestor of all modern birds. They are known from fossil remains found throughout the late Cretaceous period of North America, though only one species, Ichthyornis dispar, is represented by complete enough fossils to have been named. Ichthyornitheans became extinct at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, along with enantiornitheans, all other non-avian dinosaurs, and many other animal and plant groups.
Protostega is an extinct genus of sea turtle containing a single species, Protostega gigas. Its fossil remains have been found in the Smoky Hill Chalk formation of western Kansas, time-equivalent beds of the Mooreville Chalk Formation of Alabama and Campanian beds of the Rybushka Formation. Fossil specimens of this species were first collected in 1871, and named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1872. With a total length of 3.9 metres (13 ft), it is the second-largest sea turtle that ever lived, second only to the giant Archelon, and one of the three largest turtle of all time along Archelon and Gigantatypus.
Erythraeidae is a family of mites belonging to the Trombidiformes. Larval forms of these mites are parasitic on various other arthropods, for example harvestmen, but the adults are free-living predators. These oval mites are rather large, usually reddish coloured and densely hairy. The legs, especially the first and fourth pairs, are long and adapted for running. They have either one or two pairs of eyes and can be distinguished from related families microscopically by the presence of a single claw on the tibia of the palp.
Erythraeus is a genus of mites belonging to the family Erythraeidae. These are large red mites with two pairs of eyes and long legs.
Balaustium medicagoense is a species of mite belonging to the family Erythraeidae. This large, densely hairy mite is up to 1.6 mm in length with one pair of eyes set well back on the body. The first pair of legs is just longer than the body.
Leptus intermedius is a species of mite belonging to the family Erythraeidae. This is a large, oval mite with a total length of 1.7 mm. The body is densely hairy and there is one pair of eyes. The fourth pair of legs is longer than the body. This species has been recorded only in the Bathurst area of South Africa.
The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre, formerly known as the Morden and District Museum, is located in Morden, Manitoba in the lower level of the Access Events Centre. The museum currently houses the largest collection of marine reptile fossils in Canada.
The Prostigmata is a suborder of mites belonging to the order Trombidiformes, which contains the "sucking" members of the "true mites" (Acariformes).
The Trombidiformes are a large, diverse order of mites.
Megacephalosaurus is an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaur that inhabited the Western Interior Seaway of North America about 94 to 93 million years ago during the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous, containing the single species M. eulerti. It is named after its large head, which is the largest of any plesiosaur in the continent and measures up to 1.75 meters (5.7 ft) in length. Megacephalosaurus was one of the largest marine reptiles of its time with an estimated length of 6–9 meters (20–30 ft). Its long snout and consistently sized teeth suggest that it preferred a diet on smaller-sized prey.
Egg fossils are the fossilized remains of eggs laid by ancient animals. As evidence of the physiological processes of an animal, egg fossils are considered a type of trace fossil. Under rare circumstances a fossil egg may preserve the remains of the once-developing embryo inside, in which case it also contains body fossils. A wide variety of different animal groups laid eggs that are now preserved in the fossil record beginning in the Paleozoic. Examples include invertebrates like ammonoids as well as vertebrates like fishes, possible amphibians, and reptiles. The latter group includes the many dinosaur eggs that have been recovered from Mesozoic strata. Since the organism responsible for laying any given egg fossil is frequently unknown, scientists classify eggs using a parallel system of taxonomy separate from but modeled after the Linnaean system. This "parataxonomy" is called veterovata.
The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event was a sudden mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth, approximately 66 million years ago. With the exception of some ectothermic species such as sea turtles and crocodilians, no tetrapods weighing more than 25 kilograms survived. It marked the end of the Cretaceous Period, and with it the Mesozoic era, while heralding the beginning of the Cenozoic era, which continues to this day.
This list of fossil arthropods described in 2018 is a list of new taxa of trilobites, fossil insects, crustaceans, arachnids, and other fossil arthropods of every kind that were described during the year 2018, as well as other significant discoveries, and events related to arthropod paleontology that are scheduled to occur in the year 2018.
Caeculidae is a family of mites in the order Trombidiformes, the only family of the superfamily Caeculoidea. There are about 9 genera and about 100 described species in Caeculidae which occur world-wide. The oldest records of the family are from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber, belonging to the extant genus Procaeculus.
Burmese amber is fossil resin dating to the early Late Cretaceous Cenomanian age recovered from deposits in the Hukawng Valley of northern Myanmar. It is known for being one of the most diverse Cretaceous age amber paleobiotas, containing rich arthropod fossils, along with uncommon vertebrate fossils and even rare marine inclusions. A mostly complete list of all taxa described up until 2018 can be found in Ross 2018; its supplement Ross 2019b covers most of 2019.
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