Biology:Bimastos
| Bimastos | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
| |
| Example of Bimastos rubidus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Class: | Clitellata |
| Order: | Opisthopora |
| Family: | Lumbricidae |
| Genus: | Bimastos Moore, 1893 |
| Species | |
| |
Bimastos is a genus of lumbricid worm thought to be native to North America but has since been introduced to every continent apart from Antarctica.[1] Recent molecular analysis has subsumed Dendrodrilus and Allolobophoridella under this genus. The clade holding Bimastos and Eisenoides seems to have diverged from Eurasian lumbricid Eisenia during the Late Cretaceous, approximately 69.2–76.1 years ago.[2] This, along with the discovery of an earthworm cocoon attributed to B. rubidus from lake sediment dated over 7,000 years old in Ontario, Canada[3] contradicts the widely held notion that Bimastos and its junior synonyms are invasive worms from Europe which have colonized North America. It's ancestors likely entered North America via the Bering Land bridge or the De Geer route and colonized elsewhere after European contact. This genus is one of the few remaining native earthworms in many North American environments, for example it appears to be the only extant earthworm native to the Alaskan interior.[4]
References
- ↑ "Molecular phylogeny and systematics of native North American lumbricid earthworms (Clitellata: Megadrili)". PLOS ONE 12 (8): e0181504. 2017. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0181504. PMID 28792948. Bibcode: 2017PLoSO..1281504C.
- ↑ "Underground evolution: new roots for the old tree of lumbricid earthworms". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 83: 7–19. February 2015. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.10.024. PMID 25463017.
- ↑ "Description and significance of a fossil earthworm (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae) cocoon from postglacial sediments in southern Ontario". Canadian Journal of Zoology 57 (7): 1402–1405. 1 July 1979. doi:10.1139/z79-181.
- ↑ "Earthworms (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae) of Interior Alaska". Biodiversity Data Journal 6 (6): e27427. 2018. doi:10.3897/BDJ.6.e27427. PMID 30026667.
Wikidata ☰ Q10429684 entry
 |  |
