Cyamatioa cooki, a types that was thought to have gone extinct over 40 centuries ago, has been uncovered alive and well off the coast of California.
In todays world of ecological unpredictability, its not typically we get to hear of types going un-extinct– the standard is hearing about types disappearing, instead. The types in concern is Cymatioa cooki, a clam that has actually formerly only been seen as a fossil and presumed extinct over the last 40,000 years.
Valentich-Scott and Goddard have found a minimum of two validated, and as much as four potentially-living clams in the tide swimming pools of the area.
The paper “A fossil species found living off southern California, with notes on the genus Cymatioa (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Galeommatoidea)” has been released in the journal ZooKeys.
“New discoveries belong to why were in science,” Valentich-Scott states.
The team instantly acknowledged their clam after seeing the initial specimen of Cyamatioa cooki that Willett used to describe the types.
So they set to deal with learning. The set captured a live specimen in 2019 and brought it back to the museum for comparison with other recognized types and the fossil record. This action permitted them to see a striking similarity between the small bivalve and a fossil clam initially explained by paleontologist George Willett in the 1930s. At the time, Willet called the species after the amateur shell collector who initially recognized the fossil as being unique among a collection of 30,000 shells, Edna Cook.
Longest interlude
For now, were still left scratching our heads as to how this species avoided us for so long a time. One hypothesis that the group is examining is that the clams favored environment really lies in the more remote areas of Baja, California, which have actually received comparatively little attention up to now. It is possible, nevertheless, that warming climates are allowing C. cooki larvae to move better to Santa Barbara, where they were discovered by chance.
The white, clear clam was found in 2018 by a team trying to find sea slugs in tide pools off the coast of California, where individuals were maturing to 11 millimeters in length.
The clam was very first identified by marine ecologist Jeff Goddard while doing fieldwork. Valentich-Scott was, too, not sure of what species he was looking at– and this actually made him delighted.
The team immediately recognized their clam after seeing the original specimen of Cyamatioa cooki that Willett utilized to explain the species. This would mark the species out with the extremely rare difference of being understood initially as a fossil, and only after that as a living organism. Such a task places C. cooki firmly in the exclusive club of Lazarus taxons.
At the time, Willet called the species after the amateur shell collector who initially recognized the fossil as being distinct amongst a collection of 30,000 shells, Edna Cook.
Cymatioa cooki. Image credits J. Goddard.
In todays world of eco-friendly unpredictability, its not often we get to hear of types going un-extinct– the standard is becoming aware of types vanishing, rather. However a brand-new paper is now reporting on what might be the longest-yet period after which a types has been found alive after being presumed extinct. The types in concern is Cymatioa cooki, a clam that has actually formerly only been seen as a fossil and presumed extinct over the last 40,000 years.