Hidden diversity of small predators: new thorny lacewings from mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (Neuroptera: Rhachiberothidae: Paraberothinae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 157 (7) ◽  
pp. 1149-1175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Nakamine ◽  
Shûhei Yamamoto ◽  
Yui Takahashi
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Morphological Structure ◽  
Burmese Amber ◽  
Size Number ◽  
Fossil Records

AbstractThorny lacewings (Rhachiberothidae) are currently distributed only within Africa, whereas they are prevalent in the fossil record of various Cretaceous ambers across the Northern Hemisphere, with a handful of the fossil records from some Eocene European ambers. Four rhachiberothid species in four extinct genera are known from the mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar. Here, we report further examples of the remarkable palaeodiversity of this group from the same amber deposit, adding the four new fossil genera and seven new species: Acanthoberotha cuspis gen. et sp. nov., Astioberotha falcipes gen. et sp. nov., Stygioberotha siculifera gen. et sp. nov., Uranoberotha chariessa gen. et sp. nov., Creagroparaberotha cuneata sp. nov., Micromantispa galeata sp. nov. and M. spicata sp. nov. Based on a series of well-preserved specimens, we discuss the fine details of the raptorial forelegs and genital segments, which may be important for elucidating the phylogenetic relationships among genera. Our findings reveal an unexpectedly diverse assemblage of thorny lacewings in the Cretaceous System, highlighting the morphologically diverse rhachiberothids in Burmese amber. The discovery of seven additional rhachiberothid species in Myanmar amber suggests the potential for much higher diversity and abundance of the Cretaceous rhachiberothids than previously documented. Furthermore, morphological variation in the raptorial forelegs was found to be extremely diverse among the Burmese amber paraberothines, especially in terms of the size, number and shape of spines (or spine-like setae) on the inner edges of protibia, and the morphological structure of the probasitarsus.

A new species and genus of Alienopteridae (Blattodea) from mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4941 (4) ◽  
pp. 580-586
Author(s):  
XIN-YU CHEN ◽  
HUA-CHUAN ZHANG ◽  
XIAOXIAO SHI
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Posterior Part ◽  
Batesian Mimicry ◽  
Burmese Amber ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
A New Species

Eminespina burma gen. et sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on a female embedded in Cretaceous Burmese amber of Cenomanian age. Autapomorphic are three unique spines distributed anterior quarter of pronotum from longer posterior part. The new evidence of Batesian mimicry in the insect fossil record is briefly discussed. 

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural notes on Lechenaultia R.Br. (Goodeniaceae)

Brunonia ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
DA Morrison
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
First Time

There have been a large number of nomenclatural and taxonomic problems within Lechenaultia, and these are resolved here. A total of 24 names are lectotypified, two neotypes are chosen, a series of misapplied names is elucidated, and L. agrostophylla is synonymised under L. filiformis for the first time. As well, L. brevifolia, L. lutescens and L. papillata are described as new species, and the considerable morphological variation within several of the species is reported in detail. The phylogenetic relationships within the genus are also re-appraised, the sectional delimi- tations are re-defined and section Patentes is described as new.

scholarly journals The Weevil Fauna Preserved in Burmese Amber—Snapshot of a Unique, Extinct Lineage (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea)

Diversity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Clarke ◽  
Ajay Limaye ◽  
Duane McKenna ◽  
Rolf Oberprieler
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Light Microscopy ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Ct Scanning ◽  
High Magnification ◽  
New Genera ◽  
Burmese Amber ◽  
Critical Gap ◽  
Selection Of

Only a few weevils have been described from Burmese amber, and although most have been misclassified, they show unusual and specialised characters unknown in extant weevils. In this paper, we present the results of a study of a much larger and more diverse selection of Burmese amber weevils. We prepared all amber blocks to maximise visibility of structures and examined these with high-magnification light microscopy as well as CT scanning (selected specimens). We redescribe most previously described taxa and describe 52 new species in 26 new genera, accompanied by photographs. We compare critical characters of these weevils with those of extant taxa and outline the effects of distortion on their preservation and interpretation. We conclude that only two weevil families are thus far represented in Burmese amber, Nemonychidae and a newly recognised family, Mesophyletidae, which appears closely related to Attelabidae but cannot be accommodated in this family. The geniculate antennae and long rostrum with exodont mandibles of most Mesophyletidae indicate that they were highly specialised phytophages of early angiosperms preserved in the amber, likely ovipositing in flowers or seeds. This weevil fauna appears to represent an extinct mid-Cretaceous ecosystem and fills a critical gap in the fossil record of weevils.

A new species of Cormopsocidae from Burmese amber (Psocodea; Trogiomorpha)

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
MARINA HAKIM ◽  
DANY AZAR ◽  
DI-YING HUANG
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Burmese Amber ◽  
A New Species

Recently established, Cormopsocidae Yoshizawa & Lienhard, 2020 is an extinct psocodean trogiomorphan family, with its fossil record from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. To date, this family comprises a total of three species: Cormopsocus groehni Yoshizawa & Lienhard, 2020, Cormopsocus neli Hakim et al., 2021 and Cormopsocus perantiqua (Cockerell, 1919).

scholarly journals Is evolutionary history repeatedly rewritten in light of new fossil discoveries?

2010 ◽  
Vol 278 (1705) ◽  
pp. 599-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Tarver ◽  
P. C. J. Donoghue ◽  
M. J. Benton
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
Old World Monkeys ◽  
Catarrhine Primates ◽  
The Past ◽  
Fossil Records ◽  
Species Being

Mass media and popular science journals commonly report that new fossil discoveries have ‘rewritten evolutionary history’. Is this merely journalistic hyperbole or is our sampling of systematic diversity so limited that attempts to derive evolutionary history from these datasets are premature? We use two exemplars—catarrhine primates (Old World monkeys and apes) and non-avian dinosaurs—to investigate how the maturity of datasets can be assessed. Both groups have been intensively studied over the past 200 years and so should represent pinnacles in our knowledge of vertebrate systematic diversity. We test the maturity of these datasets by assessing the completeness of their fossil records, their susceptibility to changes in macroevolutionary hypotheses and the balance of their phylogenies through study time. Catarrhines have shown prolonged stability, with discoveries of new species being evenly distributed across the phylogeny, and thus have had little impact on our understanding of their fossil record, diversification and evolution. The reverse is true for dinosaurs, where the addition of new species has been non-random and, consequentially, their fossil record, tree shape and our understanding of their diversification is rapidly changing. The conclusions derived from these analyses are relevant more generally: the maturity of systematic datasets can and should be assessed before they are exploited to derive grand macroevolutionary hypotheses.

A new species of Fitzroya (Cupressaceae) from oligocene sediments in north-western Tasmania

1996 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 867 ◽  
Author(s):  
RS Hill ◽  
SS Whang
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
South America ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Leaf Shape ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
Plant Associations ◽  
Fossil Records ◽  
North Western ◽  
A New Species

Vegetative twigs from Oligocene sediments in north-western Tasmania are assigned to a new fossil species of Fitzroya, F. tasmanensis. These twigs differ from extant F. cupressoides in leaf shape and stomatal orientation and morphology. This is the first fossil record of Fitzroya from outside the current range of the genus (South America). Previous fossil records of Fitzroya from South America are almost certainly erroneous. These fossils occur in sediments with leaves and cupules of Nothofagus subgenus Nothofagus, which is also restricted to South America today. This suggests that some current plant associations in southern South America provide good analogues for vegetation in Oligocene Tasmania.

scholarly journals Late Oligocene Melia (Meliaceae) from the Nanning Basin of South China and it’s biogeographical implication

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Qiu Liu ◽  
Sheng-Lan Xu ◽  
Qiong-Yao Fu ◽  
Cheng Quan ◽  
Jian-Hua Jin
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
South China ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Late Oligocene ◽  
Tropical Africa ◽  
Fossil Records ◽  
Small Genus ◽  
A New Species

AbstractMelia L. is a small genus of only 2–3 species, which is native to Indo-Malesia, India, Pakistan and southern parts of tropical Africa. Fossil records of Melia are known from the early Miocene to the Pleistocene. Here we describe some mummified fossil endocarps of Melia from the upper part of the Yongning Formation (late Oligocene) in Nanning Basin, South China. These well-preserved stony endocarps are 8–14 mm long and 5–9 mm wide, and have 5 locules with a single spindle seed per locule. We interpret these endocarps as the internal remains of a Melia drupe, and assign them as a new species: M. santangensis sp. nov. This is the only fossil record of anatomically preserved Melia found in China, and also the oldest fossil record of Melia so far reported globally. The fossil record confirms the presence of Melia in Asia at the late Oligocene, and provides evidence supporting the distribution and dispersal hypothesis of the Meliaceae.

Phylogenetic relationships within the superfamily Anisopodoidea (Diptera: Nematocera), with description of new Jurassic species

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
MACIEJ WOJTOŃ ◽  
IWONA KANIA ◽  
WIESŁAW KRZEMIŃSKI ◽  
DONG REN
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Fossil Record

New species of Jurassic Protorhyphidae: Protorhyphus lukashevichae sp. nov., Protorhyphus jurassicus sp. nov., and Anisopodidae: Mesorhyphus blagoderovi sp. nov. from Daohugou, China, are described and illustrated. Phylogenetic relationships and evolution within the Anisopodoidea are analyzed and discussed. The oldest Anisopodoidea appeared in the Triassic and fossil record indicate that they were most numerous in Jurassic and in the Cretaceous.

Does extinction wield an axe or pruning shears? How interactions between phylogeny and ecology affect patterns of extinction

Paleobiology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walton A. Green ◽  
Gene Hunt ◽  
Scott L. Wing ◽  
William A. DiMichele
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Extinction Probability ◽  
Ecological Change ◽  
Ecological Traits ◽  
Ecological Preferences ◽  
Size Number ◽  
Ecological Criteria ◽  
Close Relatives

Extinctions are caused by environmental and ecological change but are recognized and measured in the fossil record by the disappearance of clades or lineages. If the ecological preferences of lineages or taxa are weakly congruent with their phylogenetic relationships, even large ecological perturbations are unlikely to drive major clades extinct because the factors that eliminate some species are unlikely to affect close relatives with different ecological preferences. In contrast, if phylogenetic relatedness and ecological preferences are congruent, then ecological perturbations can more easily cause extinctions of large clades. In order to quantify this effect, we used a computer model to simulate the diversification and extinction of clades based on ecological criteria. By varying the parameters of the model, we explored (1) the relationship between the extinction probability for a clade of a given size (number of terminals) and the overall intensity of extinction (the proportion of the terminals that go extinct), and (2) the congruence between ecological traits of the terminals and their phylogenetic relationships. Data from two extinctions (planktonic foraminifera at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary and vascular land plants at the Middle/Late Pennsylvanian boundary) show phylogenetic clustering of both ecological traits and extinction probability and demonstrate the interaction of these factors. The disappearance of large clades is observed in the fossil record, but our model suggests that it is very improbable without both high overall extinction intensities and high congruence between ecology and phylogeny.

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