New species from Late Cretaceous New Jersey amber and stasis in subfamily Attageninae (Insecta: Coleoptera: Dermestidae)

2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 491-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Peris ◽  
Jiří Háva

AbstractA new fossil species of Dermestidae (Insecta: Coleoptera), preserved in Late Cretaceous (Turonian) amber from New Jersey, is described asAttagenus(Aethriostoma)turonianensisn. sp. The specimen is fossilized in translucent amber, but 3D imaging using propagation phase-contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography allowed detailed classification and description. This species is the oldest representative of the subfamily Attageninae and the third fossil species described in the family from the entire Mesozoic. Dermestidae comprise beetle species that typically feed on carcasses, although some Recent species ofAttagenusLatreille, 1802 are known to feed on plant debris, which is highly abundant in amber deposit sediments. This new species is evidence for diversification in the family during the Early Cretaceous as well as long morphological conservation of diagnostic features of the genusAttagenusfrom the Late Cretaceous. Analyzing the taxa from Mesozoic ambers that show stasis, the small size of the specimens together with a specific ecology could explain the stability of these lineages.

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4320 (3) ◽  
pp. 597 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAVEL SROKA ◽  
ANDRÉ NEL

A new fossil species of the family Compsocidae, namely Burmacompsocus coniugans sp. nov. is described from Late Cretaceous Burmese amber. Diagnostic characters separating the new species from the previously known representatives of the genus are discussed. Details of mouthparts and genitalia are described for the genus for the first time. The discovery of the new species supports the hypothesis of higher Compsocidae diversity existing in the past compared with the present. 


2013 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stylianos Chatzimanolis ◽  
Alfred F. Newton ◽  
Carmen Soriano ◽  
Michael S. Engel

The first definitive fossil species of the rove beetle (Staphylinidae) subfamily Phloeocharinae is described and figured from a single individual preserved in Late Cretaceous (Turonian) amber from New Jersey. The species is representative of the extant genus Phloeocharis Mannerheim and is described as Phloeocharis agerata Chatzimanolis, Newton, and Engel, new species. The specimen was imaged using traditional light microscopy as well as synchrotron propagation phase contrast microtomography, permitting a detailed examination of otherwise difficult to observe features. Examination revealed remarkable homogeneity across many characters with those of extant relatives, highlighting considerable morphological stasis in the genus over the last 90 million years.


Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4444 (3) ◽  
pp. 333
Author(s):  
VIKTOR B. GOLUB ◽  
ERNST HEISS

Two new fossil species (Phatnoma pulchra sp. nov., Leptopharsa antica sp. nov.) of the family Tingidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) from Dominican amber (Dominican Republic) and one new species (Leptopharsa colombiana sp. nov.) from Colombian copal (Colombia) are described and illustrated with photos. Features of similarities and differences from closely related fossil and recent species are given. 


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Sergey A. Belokobylskij ◽  
Maximilian G. Pankowski ◽  
Madeline V. Pankowski ◽  
Alejandro Zaldívar-Riverón

Abstract New parasitoid wasps of the family Braconidae are documented from Eocene Baltic and Rovno ambers. A new fossil genus belonging to the braconid subfamily Exothecinae, Palaeocolastes n. gen., with its type species P. bruesi n. sp., is described and illustrated from Baltic amber. This represents the first reliable fossil record for a member of Exothecinae. Two additional new species from Baltic amber are also described: Ascogaster (Syntaphus) latitibialis n. sp. (Cheloninae) and Meteorus arasnitsyni n. sp. (Euphorinae). Another fossil species, Microtypus eocenus n. sp. (Microtypinae), is described from coeval Rovno amber (Ukraine), representing the first braconid species described from this deposit. A new record of a female of Diospilites brevicornis Brues, 1933 (Diospilitinae) from Baltic amber, together with variation of some diagnostic features of the species and redescription of its subfamily and genus, are also provided. UUID: http://zoobank.org/656cb1a3-b9cf-4696-ae24-0d4df9545101.


Zootaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4200 (2) ◽  
pp. 327 ◽  
Author(s):  
PEDRO S. R. ROMANO

Pelomedusoides is the most diverse clade of side-necked turtles and there is an extensive fossil record (de Broin, 1988; Lapparent de Broin, 2000; Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011) that dates back at least to the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) (Romano et al., 2014). Its large fossil record evidences a greater diversity in the past, particularly at the end of the Mesozoic, and exhibits a good sampling of species that are represented by skull material (Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011). As a consequence, the most complete and recent phylogenetic hypotheses for this clade (e.g. Romano et al., 2014; Cadena, 2015) are based on matrices comprising a great amount of cranial characters derived largely from Gaffney et al. (2006, 2011). In addition, it is well established that shell characters show a lot of phenotypic plasticity, even in the fossil species (Romano, 2008; Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011). In most cases it consequently is not justified to rely on “diagnostic features” of poorly informative shell-only material for describing a new species. Because of that, most authors remark new morphotypes in the literature when such aberrant specimens are recovered, but do not make any nomenclatural act by proposing a new yet poorly supported species (e.g. Romano et al., 2013; Ferreira & Langer, 2013; Menegazzo et al., 2015). Unfortunately, such a supposedly new bothremydid turtle (Pleurodira: Bothremydidae) from the Early Paleocene of Brazil was recently described based on poorly diagnostic remains (Carvalho et al., 2016; hereafter CGB, for the authors initials) and a correction of this unfounded nomenclatural act is required. In addition I present some comments on shell only material from Brazil in order to guide splitter-taxonomists to stop describing poorly preserved fossil specimens as new species. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5057 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-561
Author(s):  
VASILIY B. KOLESNIKOV ◽  
VLADISLAV D. LEONOV

The description of a new species of oribatid mites (Oribatida) of the family Zetorchestidae—Zetorchestes krisperi sp. nov.—is proposed based on adult and tritonymph specimens collected from rainforest soil of Bi Dup-Nui Ba National Park (southern Vietnam). We also review the distinguishing characteristics for Zetorchestes species and present an identification key to Zetorchestes species of the world. Diagnostic features of Zetorchestes nymphs are discussed.  


Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3427 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
ARMANDO C. CICCHINO ◽  
DANIEL ALFONSO GONZÁLEZ-ACUÑA

Species of the genus Bonomiella Conci, 1942, are a parasitic on bird species belonging to the family Columbidae (Aves, Columbiformes). In the present study we redescribe the species Bonomiella columbae Emerson, 1957 from Argentinean specimens, and describe the new species B. zenaidae sp. nov. from Zenaida auriculata virgate Bertoni, 1901, and Z. auriculata auriculata (des Murs 1847) from Argentina and Chile. Descriptions include male and female diagnostic features, and also descriptions of nymphal instars II and III. Also, we include a full diagnosis of the genus Bonomiella and an annotated checklist of the six species known to date, with their respective hosts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 1754-1764
Author(s):  
Andrés O. Porta ◽  
Daniel N. Proud ◽  
Peter Michalik ◽  
Fabio Akashi Hernandes

A protonymph of the snout mite genus Odontoscirus Thor, 1913, O. cretacico sp. nov., is described and illustrated from Cretaceous amber of Myanmar is described and illustrated, constituting the earliest fossil species described of the family Bdellidae (ca. 99 Ma). After reexamining the literature and recollected specimens from type localities, we conclude that the following five recent species do not belong to the genus Biscirus and should be transferred to Odontoscirus: O. anomalicornis (Berlese 1916) comb. nov., O. symmetricus (Kramer 1898) comb. nov., O. uncinatus (Kramer 1898) comb. nov., O. norvegicus (Thor 1905) comb. nov., and O. insularis (Willmann 1939) comb. nov. The implications of the fossil record of the family is discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 696-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateusz Zmudzinski

AbstractThe fossil record of the family Camerobiidae has been represented by only one species, Neophyllobius succineus Bolland and Magowski, 1990, described from Eocene Baltic amber. These prostigmatan mites are distinguishable by their distinctly long and slender stilt-like legs, and they are associated with aboveground vegetation where they hunt for other small invertebrates. This paper enhances the knowledge of fossil stilt-legged mites. Two new fossil species, N. electrus new species and N. glaesus new species, are described from samples of Baltic amber, and remarks on their morphology and taphonomy are provided. The discovery is complemented with a discussion on morphological singularities (the shape of the prodorsum, the location of setae h1 and h2 in living specimens, and lengths of genual setae), an anomaly of hypertrophied seta (found in the N. glaesus holotype), and some biogeographical issues.UUID: http://zoobank.org/d1602384-ae4f-4f90-b4a1-6cdedd77c9e1


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