A Fossilized Microcenosis In Triassic Amber

Detailed data on bacterial and protistan microfossils are presented from a 0.003 mm 3 piece of Triassic amber (Schlierseerit, Upper Triassic period, 220‐230 million years old). This microcenosis, which actually existed as such within a very small, probably semiaquatic habitat, included the remains of about two bacteria species, four fungi ( Palaeodikaryomyces baueri, Pithomyces ‐like conidia, capillitium‐like hyphae, yeast cells) two euglenoids, two chlamydomonas ( Chlamydomonas sp., Chloromonas sp.), two coccal green microalgae ( Chlorella sp., Choricystis ‐like cells), one zooflagellate, three testate amoebae ( Centropyxis aculeata var. oblonga‐like, Cyclopyxis eurystoma ‐like, Hyalosphenia baueri n. sp.), seven ciliates ( Pseudoplaryophrya nana ‐like, Mykophagophrys terricola ‐like, Cyrtolophosis mucicola ‐like, Paracondylostoma sp., Bryometopus triquetrus ‐like. Tetrahymena rostrata ‐like, Paramecium triassicum n. sp.) the microfossils correspond to or diverge from extant species only slightly.