scholarly journals The wasp genus Clystopsenella in Early Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic (Hymenoptera: Scolebythidae)

2015 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Engel

A new species of scolebythine wasp (Chrysidoidea: Scolebythidae) is described and figured from a female beautifully preserved in Early Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic.  The specimen is the first fossil record of the extant genus <em>Clystopsenella</em> Kieffer, and is quite similar to the extant <em>Clystopsenella longiventris</em> Kieffer, a species that occurs widely from Brazil to Belize.  <strong><em>Clystopsenella mirabilis</em></strong> Engel, new species, is distinguished from <em>C. longiventris</em> on the basis of size; head, pronotal, and pterostigmal shape; and putative color differences.  The living and fossil diversity of the family is summarized and evolutionary patterns within the clade are discussed.

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Broly ◽  
María De Lourdes Serrano-Sánchez ◽  
Francisco J. Vega

Currently, the Onisicdea (terrestrial isopods) is a massive Crustacea suborder of more than 3 700 species, but our knowledge of their paleodiversity is poor. In this paper, we present ten fossils of Crinocheta, the largest clade within the Onisicdea, discovered in Early Miocene (23 Ma) amber of Chiapas. We described three new genera and six new species including Palaeolibrinus spinicornis gen. nov. sp. nov., Armadilloniscus miocaenicus sp. nov., Archeostenoniscus robustus gen. nov. sp. nov., Archeostenoniscus mexicanus sp. nov., Palaeospherarmadillo mazanticus gen. nov. sp. nov., and Palaeospherarmadillo rotundus sp. nov. This study represents the first fossil record of the family Detonidae, Olibrinidae, and “Stenoniscidae”. From a paleoenvironmental reconstruction perspective, the oniscidean fauna presented here supports a particularly wet paleoenvironment, under brackish water influence, similar to an estuary.


2013 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Michael S. Engel

The first fossil of the parasitoid wasp family Ceraphronidae (Ceraphronoidea) is described and figured.  Ceraphron ceuthonymus Engel, new species, is described from Early Miocene (Burdigalian) amber from the Dominican Republic and distinguished from its close congeners.  A brief summary of the fossil record of Ceraphronoidea is provided.


Author(s):  
Alberto Collareta ◽  
Agatino Reitano ◽  
Antonietta Rosso ◽  
Rossana Sanfelippo ◽  
Mark Bosselaers ◽  
...  

Coronuloid barnacles are epibionts of several marine vertebrates (including cetaceans and sea turtles) as well as invertebrates, and are assigned to two families of turtle barnacles (Chelonibiidae Pilsbry, 1916 and Platylepadidae Newman & Ross, 1976) and one family of whale barnacles (Coronulidae Leach, 1817). Chelonibiids and coronulids have a scanty, albeit significant fossil record extending back to the Eocene and Pliocene, respectively; in turn, the fossil record of platylepadids is limited to a single record from the Upper Pleistocene. Here we report on an isolated carinolateral compartment of Platylepas Gray, 1825, the type genus of the family, from Lower Pleistocene (Gelasian) epibathyal deposits exposed at Milazzo (Sicily, Italy). This specimen is here designated holotype of a new species, †Platylepas mediterranea sp. nov. We argue that, like most extant members of Platylepas, †P. mediterranea sp. nov. lived partially embedded in the skin of a sea turtle. This record of an extinct platylepadid – the first from the Mediterranean region and the second worldwide – pushes back the fossil record of Platylepadidae to the lowermost Quaternary, thus possibly supporting an even earlier (e.g., Neogene) timing for the origin of this family and adding a new chapter to the evolutionary history of one of the most diverse and successful lineages of epizoic crustaceans.


2010 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. e-49-e-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Kuznetsov ◽  
A. Khaustov ◽  
E. Perkovsky

First Record of Mites of the Family Stigmaeidae (Acari, Raphignathoidea) from Rovno Amber with Description of a New Species of the Genus Mediolata A new species, Mediolata eocenica Kuznetsov, Khaustov et Perkovsky, sp. n., is described from the Late Eocene Rovno amber. It is the first fossil record of Stigmaeidae.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4567 (3) ◽  
pp. 546 ◽  
Author(s):  
DALE E. GREENWALT ◽  
VLADIMIR A. BLAGODEROV

The dipteran family Bolitophilidae, with the single extant genus Bolitophila, is a small family of mycophagous flies. In marked contrast to related families such as Sciaridae and Mycetophilidae, the family has a poor fossil record with no definite species assigned to the genus. In addition, the position of the extinct Cretaceous subfamily Mangasinae Kovalev, 1986 (described in Bolitophillidae) has been controversial and it has been suggested that species in this clade may belong to other sciaroid families. This situation is made worse by misplacement of the type specimen. We herein describe two new species of Bolitophila, Bolitophila warreni sp. nov. from the 46-million-year-old Kishenehn Formation in Montana, USA and Bolitophila rohdendorfi sp. nov. from Baltic amber. Bolitophila pulveris Lewis, 1969 is reassigned to Sciaroidea incertae sedis. The subfamily Mangasinae is reviewed and its position within the Bolitophilidae confirmed. Two new species of Mangas, M. kovalevi sp. nov. and M. brevisubcosta sp. nov., both from the Lower Cretaceous of Khasurty in Western Transbaikalia, are described. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2975 (1) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES E. JEPSON ◽  
DAVID PENNEY ◽  
DAVID I. GREEN

A new species of fossil lace bug, Phatnoma mattijoae sp. nov., is described from a single specimen in Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic. It represents the first fossil record of the genus, extending its known range by approximately 16 million years. The new fossil appears to be most closely related to the extant P. ovatum Champion, 1897, from Guatemala.


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.


2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 775-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Selden ◽  
ChungKun Shih ◽  
Dong Ren

Nephila are large, conspicuous weavers of orb webs composed of golden silk, in tropical and subtropical regions. Nephilids have a sparse fossil record, the oldest described hitherto being Cretaraneus vilaltae from the Cretaceous of Spain. Five species from Neogene Dominican amber and one from the Eocene of Florissant, CO, USA, have been referred to the extant genus Nephila . Here, we report the largest known fossil spider, Nephila jurassica sp. nov., from Middle Jurassic (approx. 165 Ma) strata of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. The new species extends the fossil record of the family by approximately 35 Ma and of the genus Nephila by approximately 130 Ma, making it the longest ranging spider genus known. Nephilidae originated somewhere on Pangaea, possibly the North China block, followed by dispersal almost worldwide before the break-up of the supercontinent later in the Mesozoic. The find suggests that the palaeoclimate was warm and humid at this time. This giant fossil orb-weaver provides evidence of predation on medium to large insects, well known from the Daohugou beds, and would have played an important role in the evolution of these insects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Qiu Liu ◽  
Sheng-Lan Xu ◽  
Qiong-Yao Fu ◽  
Cheng Quan ◽  
Jian-Hua Jin

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.


Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3359 (1) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAUREANO R. GONZÁLEZ-RUIZ ◽  
GUSTAVO J. SCILLATO-YANÉ ◽  
CECILIA M. KRMPOTIC ◽  
ALFREDO A. CARLINI

A new species of Peltephilidae (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Cingulata) (early Eocene–late Miocene) is described here. Thenew taxon is based on three specimens collected from the margins of Arroyo Chasicó, Buenos Aires Province, (Argenti-na), which correspond to the Arroyo Chasicó Formation (late Miocene, Chasicoan SALMA). The new species is charac-terized by osteoderms with a very rough exposed surface showing high longitudinal and well developed crests (two lateraland one central) with deep and ample valleys among them. The new taxon is the only “relictual” xenarthran cingulate ofthe Santacrucian Age (late early Miocene) to be registered for the last time in the Chasicoan SALMA (late Miocene), and represents the youngest record of the family Peltephilidae.


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