The online report betrays ignorance on the part of the reporter, so it's a little hard to tell what to make of it. (Family is not a good equivalent for phylum, Greenland has been demoted from the largest island status, and four other new phyla have been reported this century-Pogonophora, Gnathostomulida, Loricifera, and the cyclophorids, if I correctly remember the name of the lobster lip inhabitants.) There's some debate about one of the purported 20th century phyla. Possible pogonophoran tube fossils are known, though I do not know if they have been analyzed in detail. Conversely, the DNA is very similar to certain annelids, and so some argue thay they should not be recognizd as a phylum. On the other hand, annelids may not be a single phylum.
Dr. David Campbell
"Old Seashells"
Biology Department
Saint Mary's College of Maryland
18952 E. Fisher Road
St. Mary's City, MD 20686-3001 USA
dcampbell@osprey.smcm.edu, 301 862-0372 Fax: 301 862-0996
"Mollusks murmured 'Morning!'. And salmon chanted 'Evening!'."-Frank Muir, Oh My Word!
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "glenn morton" <glenn.morton@btinternet.com>
Reply-To: <glenn.morton@btinternet.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 13:42:28 +0100
>Let me see if I can stir something up. There was a news report of a new type
>of animal being found in Greenland. While the report I have is not a
>scientific description, it sounds as if this is a new phyla. The report can
>be found at:
>
>http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001012/sc/life_animal_dc_1.html
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 16 2000 - 10:32:12 EDT