Archebittacus exilis Riek—the oldest hangingfly (Insecta: Mecoptera: Bittacidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4290 (2) ◽  
pp. 385
Author(s):  
KEVIN J. LAMBKIN
Keyword(s):  
Short Distance ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Costal Margin ◽  
Type Series ◽  
The Family

The Bittacidae has a rich fossil history, especially in the Jurassic. The only pre-Jurassic species ascribed to the family has been Archebittacus exilis Riek, 1955, known from several forewing and hindwing fragments from the Late Triassic (Norian) Mount Crosby Formation of Queensland. A re-examination of Riek’s type series as well as an additional hindwing specimen has found that although A. exilis has a predominance of plesiomorphies, it exhibits the following apomorphies sufficient to justify its inclusion in the Bittacidae, albeit as one of its most plesiomorphic members: wing bases narrowed (but less so than in nearly all other bittacids); R4+5→R4 at least slightly arched in forewing, but with arching more pronounced in hindwing; R5 convex; the stem of CuA in the forewing fused with M for at least a short distance; forewing costal margin straight and costal space very narrow; 2A short and simple. 

Revision of the Ipsviciidae of the Late Triassic of Queensland (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha: Scytinopteroidea)

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4860 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-520
Author(s):  
KEVIN J. LAMBKIN
Keyword(s):  
Flood Plain ◽  
Distal Portion ◽  
The Body ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Costal Margin ◽  
Insect Fauna ◽  
Body Form ◽  
Surface Sculpture ◽  
New Family ◽  
The Family

Ipsvicia Tillyard, 1919, and Ipsviciopsis Tillyard, 1922, in Tillyard’s new family, Ipsviciidae, were two of the most impressive insects from the Denmark Hill locality of the Late Triassic (Norian) Blackstone Formation, Ipswich Coal Measures, south-eastern Queensland. Substantial new material, including several fragmentary body specimens, from the Dinmore locality in the same formation, has enabled a revision of the two genera, with the following results: Ipsvicia jonesi Tillyard, 1919 (= Ipsvicia maculata Tillyard, 1919, syn. nov., = Ipsvicia acutipennis Tillyard, 1919, syn. nov.), Ipsviciopsis elegans Tillyard, 1922 (= Ipsviciopsis magna Tillyard, 1922, syn. nov.). The tegmen of Ipsviciopsis is distinguished from that of Ipsvicia on its narrower shape and less convex costal margin, simpler surface sculpture, longer basal cell, sinuous R, only slightly angulate CuA, and sinuous base of 1A. The tegmina of both I. jonesi and I. elegans are noteworthy for their variability in apical venation and shape of the apex, with no two specimens quite the same. The tegmen of I. jonesi has extraordinary surface sculpture comprising patches of fine tubercles set in a coarser tuberculate/punctate groundmass, the patches extremely variable in shape and pattern, again with no two specimens the same. A new diagnosis of the Ipsviciidae has identified the unique form of the distal portion of Sc (dSc—a long groove running along the costal space and crossed by many costal veinlets), the complex and highly variable apical venation, and the simple CuA, as the most distinctive characters. Analysis of all previous taxa which have been referred to the Ipsviciidae restricts the family to the Middle to Late Triassic, with records from Australia, China, France, Germany, Japan and Kyrgyzstan, and with one Early Jurassic record from Kyrgyzstan. Ipsvicia langenbergensis Barth, Ansorge et Brauckmann, 2011, from the Late Triassic of Germany meets the diagnosis of Ipsviciopsis and is transferred as Ipsviciopsis langenbergensis (Barth, Ansorge et Brauckmann, 2011) comb. nov. All previous Permian records of the family have now been transferred to other families of the Scyctinopteroidea, and there are also numerous additional unconfirmed Triassic records. The new body specimens of both Ipsvicia and Ipsviciopsis show that the ipsviciids where robust hemipterans with tough, coriaceous, fairly flatly-folded tegmina, with a large, shield-like, highly sculptured pronotum covering all but the mesoscutellum, and apparently much of the head. The body form is not dissimilar to ground-dwelling cockroaches, or more especially some ground-dwelling moist environment Heteroptera, such as the nepomorph family Gelastocoridae. This body form, as well as their frequent occurrence among the rich Dicroidium-dominant flood plain and swamp flora of the Dinmore locality, where they represent nearly 20% of the preserved insect fauna (cockroaches represent 25%), suggest that the ipsviciids were ground-dwelling insects of moisture-rich floral environments. 

Mesodiphthera Tillyard, 1919, from the Late Triassic of Queensland, the oldest cicada (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha: Cicadoidea: Tettigarctidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4567 (2) ◽  
pp. 358 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEVIN J. LAMBKIN
Keyword(s):  
Basal Cell ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
Nodal Line ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Type Specimens ◽  
Fossil Insect ◽  
The Family ◽  
New Material ◽  
Cross Vein

New specimens of its type species from the Queensland Late Triassic (Norian) (~227–~208.5 Ma) fossil insect locality at Dinmore have revealed that the old and obscure Late Triassic genus Mesodiphthera Tillyard, 1919, from nearby Denmark Hill, is a tettigarctid cicada, the earliest record of the family and the oldest cicada. The genus is distinguished by the combined presence of three characters: the primary forks of R and M at about the same level, midway between the basal cell and the nodal line; RA2 with four or five terminal branches; and the inter-medial cross-vein backwardly inclined, running between M2 and M3. Of the three species originally ascribed to Mesodiphthera by Tillyard, only its type, M. grandis Tillyard, 1919, is retained in the genus. The other two species differ significantly from the type and are transferred to Tardilly gen. nov., which is similar to Mesodiphthera in the more or less aligned primary forks of R and M placed at about midway between the basal cell and the nodal line, and the backwardly inclined inter-medial cross-vein which runs between M2 and M3. It differs, however, in its smaller size, broader costal space, three-branched M3+4, and differently shaped CuA and CuA2. The new material, all of which is of M. grandis, provides a complete picture of the shape, colour and venation of its tegmen, whereas Tardilly prosboloides (Tillyard) comb. nov., 1922 and Tardilly dunstani (Tillyard) comb. nov., 1922 are still known only from their poorly preserved type specimens. Mesodiphthera and Tardilly exhibit a number of presumed plesiomorphies, viz the costal space much wider than the CuA cell, the basal cell strongly narrowed apically, and the post-nodal cross-vein series closer to the nodal line than the apex, which place it in the probable paraphyletic subfamily Cicadoprosbolinae. A more informed assessment of their relationships, however, must await a comprehensive analysis of the now 29 fossil genera of the family. The Tettigarctidae were the only cicadas of the Mesozoic and the discovery in the Triassic of Australia of Mesodiphthera and Tardilly clearly distinct from the 24 previously known Mesozoic genera, further demonstrates the family’s high degree of structural diversity, and emphasises its almost world-wide distribution in that Era. 

Notes on the taxonomic identity of Bystus hirtulus (Kirsch) and transfer from Endomychidae to Coccinellidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea), with designation of a lectotype for Alexia hirtula Kirsch

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2868 (1) ◽  
pp. 62 ◽  
Author(s):  
FLOYD W. SHOCKLEY ◽  
NATALIA J. VANDENBERG
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
Type Material ◽  
New Combination ◽  
Undescribed Species ◽  
Type Series ◽  
The Family

During an examination of type material of the New World endomychid genus Bystus Guérin-Méneville (Anamorphinae), the type series of Alexia hirtula Kirsch from Peru was found to contain a mixture of different taxa, none of which belong to the genus Bystus, the subfamily Anamorphinae, or even the family Endomychidae. Alexia hirtula is transferred to Delphastus Casey (Coccinellidae: Microweiseinae: Serangiini), establishing the new combination, Delphastus hirtulus (Kirsch), and a lectotype is designated. Of the three paralectotypes, one appears to be conspecific with the lectotype, one is identified as an undescribed species of Microscymnus Champion (Coccinellidae: Cryptognathini), and one, a partial specimen lacking the head, pronotum, and one elytron, is identified as a species of Leiodidae in the tribe Scotocryptini, probably Aglyptinus Cockerell. A diagnosis and redescription of D. hirtulus is provided, and Gordon’s (1994) key to Delphastus is modified to accommodate the newly transferred species. The historical classification of D. hirtulus is discussed along with characters justifying its revised placement.

scholarly journals A rare case of an evolutionary late and ephemeral biomineralization: tunicates with composite calcareous skeletons

2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 748-757
Author(s):  
Jobst Wendt
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Lower Jurassic ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Cambrian Explosion ◽  
New Order ◽  
Colonial Ascidian ◽  
New Family ◽  
The Family ◽  
Almost All

AbstractIn contrast to almost all other invertebrate phyla that constructed biomineralized skeletons during the “Cambrian explosion” and maintained them during the entire fossil record, ascidian tunicates evolved this protective and stabilizing advantage only during the Permian, although soft-bodied representatives of this subphylum made their first appearance already in the early Cambrian. It remains enigmatic why these compound calcareous skeletons persisted only until the Late Triassic, subsequently followed by less-rigid internal skeletons from the Lower Jurassic onwards, which consist of scattered isolated spicules only. In addition to recently described aragonitic ascidian exoskeletons from the Permian and Triassic, new discoveries of similar, but colonial ascidian compound endoskeletons in the lower Carnian exhibit a short-living branch of this group, which moreover contain the first indubitable calcareous spicules. The latter are embedded in the solid endoskeleton, which is composed of polygonal aragonitic plates with smooth outer and zigzag lined inner boundaries. They consist of irregular, parallel (orthogonal), or fan-shaped (clinogonal) arrangements of acicular aragonite crystals. The following taxa are described as new: order Cassianomorpha new order with the family Cassianosomidae new family and the genus Toscanisoma new genus with the species T. multipartitum new species and T. triplicatum new species.UUID: http://zoobank.org/03555353-cdab-42e8-8e99-9bfce15fa249

A new genus of ichthyosaur from the Late Triassic Pardonet Formation of British Columbia: bridging the Triassic Jurassic gap

2001 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 983-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth L Nicholls ◽  
Makoto Manabe
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Type Species ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Unique Combination ◽  
Type Specimens ◽  
Nomen Dubium ◽  
The Family ◽  
Large Diamond

Both the genus Shastasaurus and the family Shastasauridae have long been hard to define due to the fragmentary nature of the type specimens. Consequently, recent interpretations of the genus have been based almost entirely on Shastasaurus neoscapularis from the Late Triassic Pardonet Formation of British Columbia. Two new specimens of this taxon, from Pink Mountain, British Columbia, demonstrate that it does not belong in the genus Shastasaurus. This paper describes the new specimens, and refers the species to Metashastasaurus gen nov. Post-cranially, the skeleton of Metashastasaurus resembles that of shastasaurids, differing primarily only in the shape of the scapula and fibula. However, the skull has a unique combination of characters, including large diamond-shaped frontals that enter the supratemporal fenestrae, and very narrow posterior extensions of the nasals, which contact the postfrontals. It also differs from the skull of Shastasaurus in the presence of both a parietal ridge and postparietal shelf. This is a combination of derived characters previously known only in Jurassic forms. The front limb has four proximal carpals and four digits, indicating that previous reconstructions were based on incomplete material. Shastasaurus pacificus Merriam 1895, the type species of the genus Shastasaurus, must be considered a nomen dubium, making the genus Shastasaurus invalid. Until this problem is clarified, the use of the generic name Shastasaurus should be restricted to Merriam's type specimens, of which only Shastasaurus alexandrae and Shastasaurus osmonti are based on adequate material.

Taphonomic bias and the evolutionary history of the family Cidaridae (Echinodermata: Echinoidea)

Paleobiology ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Greenstein
Keyword(s):  
Type Species ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Type Specimens ◽  
Fossil Material ◽  
Group I ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of

The class Echinoidea apparently originated during the Ordovician Period and diversified slowly through the Paleozoic Era. The clade then mushroomed in diversity beginning in Late Triassic time and continued expanding into the present. Although this evolutionary history is generally accepted, the taphonomic overprint affecting it has not been explored. To gain a more accurate perception of the evolutionary history of the group, I have compared the diversity history of the family Cidaridae (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) with the preservational style of fossil type species using literature-derived data. The Cidaridae apparently originated in Middle Triassic time and diversified slowly through the Neocomian (Early Cretaceous). Diversity was maintained through the remainder of the Cretaceous and Tertiary Periods, reflecting the diversity history of the subclass. Characterization of the preservational style of type fossil material for the family revealed the following breakdown of preservational states: 60% of species were described on the basis of disarticulated skeletal material, primarily spines; 20% based on intact coronas denuded of spines, apical system, Aristotle's lantern and peristomial plates; 10% based on large coronal fragments; and 10% based on other skeletal elements. This distribution may represent the effect of a disarticulation threshold on the condition of echinoid carcasses before final burial and suggests that preservation of intact specimens may be very unlikely. For cidaroids, previous work has suggested that this threshold is likely to be reached after 7 days of decay.Comparison of the diversity history of the Cidaridae with the preservation data reveals that characteristic patterns of taphonomic overprint have affected the group since its origination in Middle Triassic time, and the nature of that overprint has changed over time: the early diversity history of the group is characterized by occurrences of fragmented fossil material, with spines predominant; further radiation of the group in mid-Jurassic time coincided with an increase in modes of preservation, ranging between exceptionally well-preserved material and disarticulated skeletal elements. Finally, type material is more rarely described from younger stratigraphic intervals (Miocene–Pleistocene) and consists predominantly of disarticulated skeletal elements and coronal fragments larger than an interambulacrum in size. Intact, denuded coronas are noticeably lacking.The number of type species of Cidaridae described in each stratigraphic interval has not been consistent during post-Paleozoic time. Middle Triassic, Malm (Upper Jurassic), Senonian (Upper Cretaceous) and Eocene series yielded significantly (α = .05) higher numbers of type specimens per million years, while the Lias (Lower Jurassic), Dogger (Mid-Jurassic), Lower Cretaceous and Paleocene yielded significantly (α = .05) lower numbers of type specimens per million years. This may be the result of a combination of taxonomic, sampling, and geographical biases.

Revision of the bizarre Mesozoic scorpionflies in the Pseudopolycentropodidae (Mecopteroidea)

2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Grimaldi ◽  
Alexandr Rasnitsyn ◽  
Zhang Junfeng ◽  
Nicholas Fraser
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Hind Wing ◽  
Early Jurassic ◽  
Western Hemisphere ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Antennal Flagellum ◽  
The Family

AbstractThe Mesozoic family Pseudopolycentropodidae presently consists of seven described species from the mid-Triassic to the Late Jurassic of Europe and Asia. Pseudopolycentropus prolatipennis Whalley, from the Early Jurassic of England, is revised based on re-examination of the type. Four new species are described herein that add significant distributional and stratigraphic extensions to the family. Pseudopolycentropodes virginicus Grimaldi and Fraser, gen. n., sp. n. from the Late Triassic (Carnian) of Virginia USA is the first species of the family from the Western Hemisphere. Pseudopolycentropus daohugouensis Zhang, sp. n. from the Late Jurassic of China is very similar to P. latipennis Martynov, 1927 from the Late Jurassic of Kazakhstan. Four specimens belonging to two very similar species in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Burma (Myanmar), Parapolycentropus burmiticus Grimaldi and Rasnitsyn, gen. n., sp. n. and P. paraburmiticus Grimaldi and Rasnistyn, sp. n., are the only specimens of the family from the Cretaceous. The amber species are exceptional, with the hind wing reduced to a minute lobe, the antennal flagellum modified into an arista, labial palps are lost, and – like the Late Jurassic species — the laciniae and what are probably mandibles are modified into a long, stylet-like proboscis. What the species with long proboscides fed upon is ambiguous, but it was doubtfully blood. Complete preservation in amber of morphological details, particularly the female terminalia, confirms previous views that this unusual group is phylogenetically basal to Recent Mecoptera.

scholarly journals A Review of Necrotauliids from the Triassic/Jurassic of England (Trichoptera: Necrotauliidae)

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard S. Kelly ◽  
Andrew J. Ross ◽  
Robert A. Coram
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Type Species ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Type Locality ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Type Specimens ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Uk ◽  
A New Species ◽  
Paraphyletic Assemblage

Species previously attributed to Necrotauliidae are revised from the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic of England based on examination of type specimens and non-type material. The necrotauliids have been considered as a basal family of caddisflies (Trichoptera) or as a paraphyletic assemblage of stem-amphiesmenopterans. Herein a new genus, Austaulius, is erected which includes all Lilstock Formation∖Lower Lias material from England; the previously described species are synonymized with A. furcatus and a new species, A. haustrum, is described from the Dorset Coast, the holotype of which preserves synapomorphic traits of the Trichoptera not previously described suggesting that the family is trichopteran. The type genus remains Necrotaulius and type species N. parvulus (Geinitz, 1884) from the type locality of Dobbertin, Germany. One species of Necrotaulius is represented in the UK, N. parvulus, which is found in the Upper Lias.

scholarly journals Earwigs (Dermaptera) from the Mesozoic of England and Australia, described from isolated tegmina, including the first species to be named from the Triassic

2016 ◽  
Vol 107 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 129-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard S. Kelly ◽  
Andrew J. Ross ◽  
Edmund A. Jarzembowski
Keyword(s):  
New Taxa ◽  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Early Jurassic ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Incertae Sedis ◽  
The Family

ABSTRACTDermaptera (earwigs) are described from the Triassic of Australia and England, and from the Jurassic and Cretaceous of England. Phanerogramma heeri (Giebel) is transferred from Coleoptera and it and Brevicula gradus Whalley are re-described. Seven new taxa are named based on tegmina: Phanerogramma australis sp. nov. and P. dunstani sp. nov. from the Late Triassic of Australia; P. gouldsbroughi sp. nov. from the Triassic/Jurassic of England; Brevicula maculata sp. nov. and Trivenapteron moorei gen. et sp. nov. from the Early Jurassic of England; and Dimapteron corami gen et sp. nov. and Valdopteron woodi gen. et sp. nov. from the Early Cretaceous of England. Phanerogramma, Dimapteron and Valdopteron are tentatively placed in the family Dermapteridae, and Trivenapteron is incertae sedis. Most of the specimens of Phanerogramma heeri are from the Brodie Collection and labelled ‘Lower Lias'; however, some were collected from the underlying Penarth Group, thus this species spans the Triassic/Jurassic boundary. The palaeobiogeography of the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic of England is discussed.

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