More Like this

1. A new leafhopper (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) from late Eocene Rovno amber described based on an adult and associated last-instar nymph from Perebrody (Ukraine)

   https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.4.5.10  

   DIETRICH, CHRISTOPHER H.; DMITRIEV, DMITRY A.; PERKOVSKY, EVGENY E. (September 2021, Palaeoentomology)

   Rovnoxestus rasnitsyni gen. & sp. nov. is described from Eocene Rovno amber based on an adult female and fifth-instar nymph collected at a recently discovered locality at Perebrody, Rovno Province, Ukraine. The new fossil taxon is tentatively placed in Aphrodinae and resembles Xestocephalites Dietrich & Gonçalves from Eocene Baltic amber but has the hind femur macrosetal formula 2+2+1 and hind tarsomere I in both nymph and adult with an elongated inner preapical seta. This is the first species of Eocene leafhopper for which both the adult and nymph are described in detail. 

   more » « less
2. Morphology-based Phylogenetic Analysis of Membracoidea (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha) With Placement of Fossil Taxa and Description of a New Subfamily

   https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixac021  

   Dietrich, Christopher_H; Dmitriev, Dmitry_A; Takiya, Daniela_M; Thomas, M_Jared; Webb, Michael_D; Zahniser, James_N; Zhang, Yalin; Yoshizawa, ed., Kazunori (October 2022, Insect Systematics and Diversity)

   Abstract Recently discovered amber-preserved fossil Cicadellidae exhibit combinations of morphological traits not observed in the modern fauna and have the potential to shed new light on the evolution of this highly diverse family. To place the fossils explicitly within a phylogenetic context, representatives of five extinct genera from Cretaceous Myanmar amber, and one from Eocene Baltic amber were incorporated into a matrix comprising 229 discrete morphological characters and representatives of all modern subfamilies. Phylogenetic analyses yielded well resolved and largely congruent estimates that support the monophyly of most previously recognized cicadellid subfamilies and indicate that the treehoppers are derived from a lineage of Cicadellidae. Instability in the morphology-based phylogenies is mainly confined to deep internal splits that received low branch support in one or more analyses and also were not consistently resolved by recent phylogenomic analyses. Placement of fossil taxa is mostly stable across analyses. Three new Cretaceous leafhopper genera, Burmotettix gen. nov., Kachinella gen nov., and Viraktamathus gen. nov., consistently form a monophyletic group distinct from extant leafhopper subfamilies and are placed in Burmotettiginae subfam. nov. Extinct Cretaceous fossils previously placed in Ledrinae and Signoretiinae are recovered as sister to modern representatives of these groups. Eomegophthalmus Dietrich and Gonçalves from Baltic amber consistently groups with a lineage comprising treehoppers, Megophthalminae, Ulopinae, and Eurymelinae but its position is unstable. Overall, the morphology-based phylogenetic estimates agree with recent phylogenies based on molecular data alone suggesting that morphological traits recently used to diagnose subfamilies are generally informative of phylogenetic relationships within this group. 

   more » « less
3. Fossil berries reveal global radiation of the nightshade family by the early Cenozoic

   https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18904  

   Deanna, Rocío; Martínez, Camila; Manchester, Steven; Wilf, Peter; Campos, Abel; Knapp, Sandra; Chiarini, Franco E.; Barboza, Gloria E.; Bernardello, Gabriel; Sauquet, Hervé; et al (April 2023, New Phytologist)

   Summary Fossil discoveries can transform our understanding of plant diversification over time and space. Recently described fossils in many plant families have pushed their known records farther back in time, pointing to alternative scenarios for their origin and spread.Here, we describe two new Eocene fossil berries of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) from the Esmeraldas Formation in Colombia and the Green River Formation in Colorado (USA). The placement of the fossils was assessed using clustering and parsimony analyses based on 10 discrete and five continuous characters, which were also scored in 291 extant taxa.The Colombian fossil grouped with members of the tomatillo subtribe, and the Coloradan fossil aligned with the chili pepper tribe. Along with two previously reported early Eocene fossils from the tomatillo genus, these findings indicate that Solanaceae were distributed at least from southern South America to northwestern North America by the early Eocene.Together with two other recently discovered Eocene berries, these fossils demonstrate that the diverse berry clade and, in turn, the entire nightshade family, is much older and was much more widespread in the past than previously thought. 

   more » « less
4. An Enigmatic Miniaturized and Attenuate Whole Lizard from the Mid-Cretaceous Amber of Myanmar

   https://doi.org/doi.org/10.3099/MCZ49.1  

   DAZA, JD; BAUER, AM; STANLEY, EL; BOLET, A; DICKSON, B; LOSOS, JB (November 2018, Breviora)

   We report the discovery of a new genus and species of amber-preserved lizard from the mid-Cretaceous of Myanmar. The fossil is one of the smallest and most complete Cretaceous lizards ever found, preserving both the articulated skeleton and remains of the muscular system and other soft tissues. Despite its completeness, its state of preservation obscures important diagnostic features.We determined its taxonomic allocation using two approaches: we used previously identified autapomorphies of squamates that were observable in the fossil; and we included the fossil in a large squamate morphological data set. The apomorphy-based identification of this specimen, including comparative data on trunk elongation in squamates, suggests its allocation to the stem-group Anguimorpha. Results from the phylogenetic analysis places the fossil in one of four positions: as sister taxon of either Shinisaurus crocodilurus or Parasaniwa wyomingensis, at the root of Varanoidea, or in a polytomy with Varanoidea and a fossorial group retrieved in a previous assessment of squamate relationships. It is clear that this fossil has many similarities with anguimorph squamates and, if this taxonomic allocation is correct, this fossil would represent the first amber-preserved member of stem Anguimorpha ever recorded, and the smallest known member of that group. It further emphasizes the role of amber inclusions in expanding our understanding of the diversity of Cretaceous lizard communities. 

   more » « less
5. Transitional morphology and Afrotropical affinity of a bythinoplectine rove beetle from the early Eocene of India (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae)

   https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.5.5.6  

   PARKER, JOSEPH (September 2022, Palaeoentomology)

   Recently discovered Ypresian-age amber from Cambay, India, reveals an ancient arthropod assemblage on the Indian subcontinent during its collision with Asia. Despite the tectonic history of India, limited connections have been found between the Cambay palaeofauna and present-day Madagascan and mainland African faunas. Here, I describe a new fossil pselaphine rove beetle (Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) recovered from the Cambay deposit that shows closest apparent phylogenetic affinity to modern Afrotropical genera. Yprezethinus grimaldii gen. et sp. nov. is placed in Bythinoplectini, subtribe Bythinoplectina. Based on antennal and maxillary palp morphology, Yprezethinus is a putative transitional stem lineage of the Zethinus-group of genera—an extant clade distributed across equatorial African rainforests. Although Yprezethinus shares with this clade the derived feature of ovoid antennal clubs formed by tight appression of the apical two segments, it differs from its putative extant relatives in its possession of the plesiomorphic complement of 11 antennomeres, without any fusions of segments. The fossil taxon signifies a biotic link between early Eocene India and continental Africa, and marks the Cenozoic emergence of a tropical leaf litter arthropod fauna approaching that of contemporary, ant-dominated rainforests. 

   more » « less