Limnognathia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Subkingdom: Eumetazoa Superphylum: Platyzoa Phylum: Micrognathozoa Kristensen & Funch, 2000 Class: Micrognathozoa Order: Limnognathida Family: Limnognathiidae Genus: Limnognathia Species: L. maerski
Binomial name
Limnognathia maerski Kristensen & Funch, 2000

Limnognathia maerski is a microscopic animal, discovered living in homothermic springs on Disko Island, Greenland in 2000, that was given its own phylum, Micrognathozoa. It is related to the rotifers and gnathostomulids, grouped together as the Gnathifera. With 32 moving parts, the jaw of this microscopic invertebrate not only exceeds sharks in complexity, but all other invertebrates. While feeding, limnognathia extend jaw parts from the mouth to grasp the substrate, like two small hands. Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... subgroups Ctenophora Cnidaria Bilateria Eumetazoa is a clade comprising all major animal groups except sponges. ... The Platyzoa are a group of protostome animals. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Reinhardt Kristensen is an invertebrate biologist, noted for the discovery of three new phyla of microscopic animals: the Loricifera in 1983, the Cycliophora in 1995, and the Micrognathozoa in 2000. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... A natural spring on Mackinac Island in Michigan. ... Disko Island lies off the west coast of Greenland in Davis Strait at a latitude of less than 70° North, and to the north of Disko Bay. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Phylum (plural: phyla) is a taxon used in the scientific classification of life. ... Classes Seisonoidea Bdelloidea Monogononta The rotifers make up a phylum of microscopic, and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. ... Gnathostomulids, or jaw worms, are a small phylum of microscopic marine animals. ... The Gnathifera are a group of four animal phyla, considered monophyletic based on genetic and structural data: Rotifera Acanthocephala Gnathostomulida Micrognathozoa Except for the Acanthocephala, all these phyla share characteristics such as the structure of their jaws and pharynx. ... Human jaw front view Human jaw left view Human jaw top view The jaw is either of the two opposable structures forming, or near the entrance to, the mouth. ... Orders Carcharhiniformes Heterodontiformes Hexanchiformes Lamniformes Orectolobiformes Pristiophoriformes Squaliformes Squatiniformes Symmoriida(extinct) Sharks (superorder Selachimorpha) are fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton[1] and a streamlined body. ... Invertebrate is a term that describes any animal without a spinal column. ...

It also has many other unique bodily structures which earned it its own phylum. It has three distinct segments, including a head, abdomen, and an accordion-like thorax, which it can extend to become flexible while moving. It averages only 0.13 mm long, or about the width of a very fine blood vessel, making it one of the smallest animals known. Human Head redirects here. ... The abdomen is a part of the body. ... Diagram of a tsetse fly, showing the head, thorax and abdomen The thorax is a division of an animals body that lies between the head and the abdomen. ...

The discovery added to a growing number of extremophiles newly discovered. An extremophile is an organism, usually unicellular, which thrives in or requires extreme conditions. ...

Phylogeny

Cladogram (adapted from [1]) showing the relationships of Limnognathia:

External links

• Comprehensive information on L. maerski
• Science Now article on L. maerski