Giant Cretaceous mite named for Chewbacca

[Halichoeres]

Meet Immensmaris chewbaccei ("Chewbacca's giant mite") from the Cretaceous of Burma. Preserved in amber, of course, but I didn't put it in the "insects in amber" thread because it's not an insect. It's huge for a mite, but still only a little over 10 mm long (or about 2/5 of an inch).



Open access: https://www.foss-rec.net/21/285/2018/

[Faelrin]

Didn't we get something named after Darth Vader at some point? Maybe I'm misremembering. Pretty cool in any case, especially since it appears to be on the fuzzy side, but that may just be my tired eyes misinterpreting how its been preserved.

[Halichoeres]

Didn't we get something named after Darth Vader at some point? Maybe I'm misremembering. Pretty cool in any case, especially since it appears to be on the fuzzy side, but that may just be my tired eyes misinterpreting how its been preserved.

Yup, it was a horseshoe crab from the Triassic: http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=6307.0

And yes, this mite is definitely pretty fuzzy.

[Faelrin]

Lol I even posted on that thread back then. Thanks for the reminder though.

And so it is. Guess it was named appropriately then.