A NEMATODE (CAPTIVONEMA-CRETACEA GEN ET SP-N) PRESERVED IN A CLITELLATE COCOON WALL FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS

A fossil worm-like organism, ca. 0.5 mm long, showing cuticle, gut and setae, is contained in the solid part of the wall of a clitellate coc oon from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian). It is interpreted as having been entrapped and embedded in the intitially viscous cocoon secretio n which solidified and thus prevented decay. Size, shape, posture, and an unsegmented but annulated cuticle with irregularly distributed set ae have led to the identification of the fossil as a nematode, describ ed as Captivonema cretacea gen. et sp. n., of uncertain family and ord er affinity. Fossil association and mode of preservation indicate a fr ee-living life habit in damp plant litter.