From time to time, small, fragile, previously unknown fossil invertebrates are found in specialized habitats. Occasionally, as in the present case, a fragment of the original habitat that existed millions of years ago is also preserved. The present article describes a previously unknown microinvertebrate in Dominican amber that cannot be placed in any group of extant invertebrates. Placed in a new family, genus, and species, the fossil shares characters with both tardigrades and mites, but clearly belongs to neither group. The several hundred fossil individuals preserved in the amber shared their moist, warm habitat with pseudoscorpions, nematodes, fungi, and protozoa. The large number of fossils provided additional evidence of their biology, including their reproductive behavior, developmental stages, and food. While there is no extant group that can accommodate these fossils, and we have no knowledge of any extant descendants, this discovery shows that unique lineages of minute invertebrates were surviving in the mid‐Tertiary.

中文翻译：

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多米尼加琥珀中一种具有螨虫和缓步动物特征的新型微型无脊椎动物

有时，在特殊的栖息地中会发现小的、脆弱的、以前未知的化石无脊椎动物。偶尔，如本案一样，数百万年前存在的原始栖息地的一部分也被保存下来。本文描述了一种以前未知的多米尼加琥珀中的微型无脊椎动物，它不能放在任何现存的无脊椎动物组中。该化石被置于一个新的科、属和种中，与缓步动物和螨类具有相同的特征，但显然不属于这两个类群。保存在琥珀中的数百个化石个体与假蝎子、线虫、真菌和原生动物共享潮湿温暖的栖息地。大量化石为它们的生物学提供了额外的证据，包括它们的生殖行为、发育阶段和食物。