- Source: Leverhulmia
Leverhulmia is an extinct genus of arthropod, known from a single partial specimen with preserved gut contents, found in the Windyfield (Rhynie) chert.
Description
Leverhulmia is an arthropod roughly 1.2 cm (0.47 in) long, with at least five pairs of uniramous limbs, split into six podomeres, and an unknown number of segments. As the head is not preserved, it could not be firmly classified into or excluded from any group within Myriapoda, although a position within Diplopoda, or as a relative of Kampecaris, was hypothesised. Therefore, it was classed as Myriapoda incertae sedis. A later paper suggests it was a hexapod, specifically a relative of Zygentoma or Archaeognatha instead, after the discovery of thoracic leg segments which suggest the type specimen is part of the abdomen. Unlike Rhyniognatha and Strudiella, its interpretation as insect is not questioned yet, but it is not easy to interpret.
Etymology
Leverhulmia is named after the Leverhulme Trust, for “the generosity of the Leverhulme Trust which supported this phase of exploration of the Rhynie and Windyfield cherts”. Its specific name, mariae is “in honour of Mary Duncan of Windyfield Farm, on whose land the Windyfield cherts occur”.
Ecology
From the preserved gut contents containing fungal and plant spores, as well as plant tissue, Leverhulmia seems to have been a detritivore, and thus would be the earliest confirmed example of such.
