Mesotardigrada | |
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Illustration accompanying Rahm's (1937) description | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Tardigrada |
Class: | Mesotardigrada |
Order: | Thermozodia |
Family: | Thermozodiidae Rahm, 1937 |
Genus: | Thermozodium Rahm, 1937 |
Species: | T. esakii
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Binomial name | |
Thermozodium esakii | |
The type locality and only locality of observation, near Nagasaki, Japan |
Mesotardigrada is one of three classes of tardigrades,[3] consisting of a single species, Thermozodium esakii.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] The animal reportedly has six claws of equal length at each foot. This species was described in 1937 by German zoologist Gilbert Rahm from a hot spring near Nagasaki, Japan. The inability of taxonomists to replicate Rahm's finding has cast doubt on the accuracy of the description, making T. esakii, and by extension the entire class Mesotardigrada, a taxon inquirendum.[11]
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