Significance of cyst fragments of Artemia sp. recovered from a 27,000 year old core taken under the Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

We present electron microscopic observations on fragments of encysted embryos of the crustacean,Artemia sp., recovered from a 27,000 year-old core section taken under the Great Salt Lake (GSL), Utah. The significance of these results comes from a consideration of the geological history of the GSL and the extraordinary properties and abundance ofArtemia cysts at this site. We make the case that this unique system, and probably other salt lakes as well, provides novel opportunities for the study of “ancient DNA” and related matters. The analysis provides the major focus of this paper, which we hope will stimulate interest in this aspect of salt lake research.