LAUSR

Abstract The Quirico Formation in southeast Brazil has gained relevance in the last few years as a window to Early Cretaceous (Barremian-Aptian) continental ecosystems of Western Gondwana. To its fossil record, we add here the first segmented wormlike specimen. The new fossil was preserved in a lacustrine environment within an arid tropical climate, associated with abundant fishes and plant remains. The incomplete small specimen (size order of 6 mm) has ca. 40 body segments, preserved as compression onto the rock bedding and soft-parts imprints. A combination of characters, such as number of segments, internal and external segmentation and lack of locomotory appendices support annelid affinities. Yet its assignment to a particular taxon is hindered by lack of diagnostic features. The new specimen composes the poorly known benthic stratum within the Quirico Formation lake system and also adds to a scant fossil record of soft-bodied limnic protostomes in the Early Cretaceous.