The Mesozoic family Archizelmiridae (Diptera: Insecta)

2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 368-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Grimaldi ◽  
Dalton De Souza Amorim ◽  
Vladimir Blagoderov

A nematocerous fly family known previously only from one species and specimen from the Upper Jurassic of Karatau, Kazakhstan, Archizelmiridae is expanded here to include additional records preserved as compression fossils and ones in amber. The compressions are from the Upper Jurassic of Shar-Teg, Mongolia and Lower Cretaceous of Baissa, Transbaikal, with a new species, Archizelmira baissa, from Baissa. Particularly significant are three finely preserved new species and genera in ambers from the Cretaceous Period: Zelmiarcha lebanensis (Lebanon: Lower Aptian), Archimelzira americana (New Jersey: Turonian), and Burmazelmira aristica (Burma [Myanmar]: mid-Cretaceous). The latter two species interestingly possess stylate antennae, those of Burmazelmira being the only aristate antennae in the order Diptera outside the suborder Brachycera. A cladogram is presented for the relationships among archizelmirid species, cladistic rank of which correlates with stratigraphic age. Transformation series of the antennal flagellum in Archizelmiridae corresponds with one recently hypothesized for the Brachycera, wherein the style and arista are derived from the apical flagellomere(s). The family appears to be a member of the extant group Sciaroidea, which includes fungus gnats and gall midges, though precise relationships remain unclear.

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Fang ◽  
Haichun Zhang ◽  
Bo Wang ◽  
Daran Zheng

A new species of the family Prophalangopsidae, Ashanga borealis sp.n., is described from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Fomation (Liaoning Province, P.R. China). The male forewing of the new species is similar to that of the Middle/Upper Jurassic species Ashanga clara Zherikhin 1985, but differs from it in possessing a forewing arched anterior margin, RS branching more basally, and MP + CuA1 with more branches. The fossil record of Chifengiinae is reviewed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 027-029
Author(s):  
YU-MING LIU ◽  
DI-YING HUANG

Ptychopteridae is an ancient and rather diverse nematoceran family with three extant and 12 fossil genera subdivided into 80 extinct species belonging to five subfamilies (Eskov & Lukashevich, 2015; Lukashevich, 2019, 2020; Liu & Huang, 2020). Several undescribed ptychopterid larvae from the Upper Triassic of Germany represent the oldest record of the family (Barth et al., 2011). Crenoptychoptera Kalugina, 1985, an extinct genus belonging to the subfamily Eoptychopterinae Handlirsch, 1906, includes seven described species. All these species were recorded from the Lower Jurassic to the Lower Cretaceous of Eurasia: C. dobbertinensis Ansorge, 1998 from the Lower Jurassic of the Former Clay in Germany (Lukashevich et al., 1998), C. conspecta Lukashevich, 1995 from the Lower Jurassic of Ust-Baley in Russia (Lukashevich, 1995), the type species C. antica Kalugina, 1985 and C. defossa Kalugina, 1985 from the Middle Jurassic of the Kubekovo in Russia (Kalugina & Kovalev, 1985), C. bavarica Krzemiński & Ansorge, 1995 from the Upper Jurassic of Wegscheid in Germany (Krzemiński & Ansorge, 1995), C. liturata Lukashevich, 2011 from Upper Jurassic of Shar Teg in Mongolia, and C. gronskayae Kalugina, 1989 from the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous of Kempendyay in Russia (Kalugina, 1989; Lukashevich, 2011). Three species discovered from the Daohugou beds of China have been assigned to Crenoptychoptera (Hao et al., 2009), but a following study suggested that they should be placed in Axymyiidae (Zhang, 2010).


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
EVGENY V. YAN ◽  
OLESYA D. STRELNIKOVA ◽  
ALEXANDER G. PONOMARENKO

Two species of Jurodidae: Jurodes ignoramus and Jurodes minor are redescribed, new characters presented, and characters from original descriptions are phylogenetically reevaluated, justifying a placement of the family within the suborder Archostemata. The new species Jurodes shef sp. nov. from the Lower Cretaceous locality Khasurty (Berriasian-Barremian, Zakamenskiy district, Buryatia Republic, Russia) is described and 2 new specimens of J. ignoramus Ponomarenko, 1985 and 5 additional specimens of J. minor Ponomarenko, 1990 are recorded. Jurodids from Khasurty are morphologically closer to those from Daohugou locality (Middle–Upper Jurassic, Inner Mongolia, China).


Zootaxa ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 1535 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
DALTON DE SOUZA AMORIM ◽  
EIRIK RINDAL

A phylogenetic analysis of the Mycetophiliformia (= Sciaroidea) was performed to determine the relationships among its families and to place the following genera of uncertain position in the system: Heterotricha, Ohakunea, Colonomyia, Freemanomyia, Rhynchoheterotricha, Chiletricha, Afrotricha, Anisotricha, Kenyatricha, Nepaletricha, Sciarosoma, Sciaropota, Insulatricha, Cabamofa, Rogambara, and Starkomyia. Eratomyia n. gen. is described based on a new species from Ecuador. Colonomyia brasiliana sp.n. and Colonomyia freemani sp.n. are described respectively from southern Brazil and Chile. The male of Cabamofa mira Jaschhof is described for the first time. A total of 64 terminal taxa and 137 transformation series (with 202 characters) were included in the data matrix, with a number of new features from thoracic morphology. Willi Hennig’s 1973 system for the higher Bibionomorpha was adopted using the name Mycetophiliformia for the Sciaroidea. The Mycetophiliformia are monophyletic. The family Cecidomyiidae appears as the sister group of the remaining Mycetophiliformia, followed by the Sciaridae. In the preferred topology, the Rangomaramidae appear as the group sister of a clade consisting of (Ditomyiidae + Bolitophilidae + Diadocidiidae + Keroplatidae) and of (Lygistorrhinidae + Mycetophilidae). The topology within the Rangomaramidae is (Chiletrichinae subfam. n. (Heterotrichinae subfam. n. ((Rangomaraminae + Ohakuneinae subfam. n.))). The Chiletrichinae include the genera Kenyatricha, Rhynchoheterotricha, Insulatricha, Chiletricha, and Eratomyia n. gen. Heterotrichinae and Rangomaraminae are monotypic. The subfamily Ohakuneinae includes Ohakunea, Colonomyia, Cabamofa, and Rogambara. The positions of Freemanomyia, Loicia, Taxicnemis, Sciaropota, Starkomyia, Anisotricha, Nepaletricha, and Sciarosoma are considered. Afrotricha might belong to the Sciaridae. The similarities used by many authors to gather the Sciaridae and Mycetophilidae in a clade are shown to be a combination of plesiomorphies and homoplasies.


2011 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dena M. Smith ◽  
Mark A. Gorman ◽  
Jason D. Pardo ◽  
Bryan J. Small

A new species of Orthoptera,Parapleurites morrisonensis, is described from the upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado, USA. This is the first insect described from the Morrison Formation and the first orthopteran described from the Jurassic of North America. No other members of the family Locustopsidae have been described in North America previously, and the other species ofParapleuritesare only known from Siberia. The lack of Jurassic Orthoptera in North America is likely due to a combination of taphonomic variables and collector bias. The discovery ofParapleurites morrisonensisand the potential for finding other Jurassic Orthoptera are important to understanding the evolution of this diverse and widely distributed group.


1997 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 998-1007 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. N. Smirnova

Shell structure has been studied in two species of the family Craniidae Menke, 1828, from the Upper Jurassic of East Ukraine and from the Lower Cretaceous of Crimea, South Ukraine. These species belong to the new genus Mesocrania—M. barskovi (Smirnova, 1972) and M. condylata new species. A layer of coarse regular rhomboidal crystallites was discovered between the primary layer of acicular crystallites and the secondary laminar layer. Branching punctae canals were observed in M. barskovi.


Zootaxa ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1937 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. ORTEGA-BLANCO ◽  
A. P. RASNITSYN ◽  
X. DELCLÒS

A new species of the family Anaxyelidae (Eosyntexis parva n. sp.) is described. This is the first record of the family from Lower Cretaceous Spanish amber. The specimen is mostly well preserved, except for dorsally. This makes it possible to identify several important details rarely or never observed in compression fossils. Eosyntexis spp. and the closely related genus Cretosyntexis are confined to the Eurasian Lower Cretaceous, whereas the extant monotypic genus Syntexis is restricted to western North America. The morphology of this new species suggests xylophagous habitus, and its relation with Syntexis libocedrii implies a possible relationship with burned wood, apparently a frequently available resource in northern Spanish forests of the Lower Cretaceous.


1964 ◽  
Vol S7-VI (2) ◽  
pp. 269-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvie Wenz

Abstract A new species of fossil fish of the family Macrosemiidae, Notagogus ferreri n. sp., is described from the Kimmeridgian (upper Jurassic) lithographic limestone at Santa Maria de Meya in Lerida province, Spain.


Zootaxa ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1702 (1) ◽  
pp. 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
XIN-WEN ZHANG ◽  
DONG REN ◽  
HONG PANG ◽  
CHUNG-KUN SHIH

A new genus with a new species of Chresmodidae (Insecta: Gryllones), Sinochresmoda magnicornia gen. et sp. nov., including specimens of male, female and nymph, is described and illustrated. These fossils were collected from the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous of Yixian Formation of Liutiaogou Village, Inner Mongolia (Nei Mongol Autonomous Region), China. Both male and female possess wings, and have sexual dimorphism in antenna. Antennae of male are highly specialized and horn-shaped, incurvated as horn with the scape strongly expanded, and the first segment of the flagella incurvated as a pair of brackets, while antennae of female are normally filiform. Wings of the new species are short, not exceeding the length of the abdomen. Fringe hairs along the wing margins, a unique feature for Chresmodidae, are dense, wavy and bundled together. Nymphs and adults probably lived in the same environment. In addition, one specimen demonstrates the extraordinary structure of tarsus with a high number of “tarsomeres”, which has been reported in other species of this family.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 421
Author(s):  
Diana Fernández ◽  
Luciana Giachetti ◽  
Sabine Stöhr ◽  
Ben Thuy ◽  
Damián Pérez ◽  
...  

The first articulated remains of ophiuroids for the Mesozoic of South America are described from the Lower Cretaceous of Neuquén Basin, Argentina. The taxonomic analysis allows the assignment of the material described herein to the extinct genus Ophiopetra. The specimens belong to a new species, but considering the poor preservation, a new name is not introduced, as it would be based on an incomplete diagnosis. Certain characteristics (e.g., the diameter of the disc, the width/height ratio of the vertebrae) suggest that these ophiuroids are paedomorphic specimens. In light of the latest classification of the Ophiuroidea, and new insights on the spine articulation microstructure of Ophiopetra lithographica presented herein, a transfer of Ophiopetra to the family Ophionereididae within the order Amphilepidida is proposed. This material expands the palaeogeographic record of this genus, since it represents the first remains of Ophiopetra described in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also the first Cretaceous record of the genus worldwide.


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