New fossils of Sphaeriusidae from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber revealed by confocal microscopy (Coleoptera: Myxophaga)

2023/01/11 by Yanda Li, Adam Ślipiński, Diying Huang +1 · 2 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Coleoptera Taxonomy and Distribution #Fossil Insects in Amber #Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy

paper · pdf · doi:10.3389/feart.2022.901573

openalex publication_date 2023/01/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Sphaeriusidae is a small family of tiny aquatic beetles in the suborder Myxophaga. In this study we characterize two new sphaeriusid fossils from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber with the help of confocal laser scanning microscopy. Sphaerius martini Li & Cai sp. nov. displays similarities with both extant Bezesporum and Sphaerius , although it can be readily recognized based on the parallel-sided prosternum. Crowsonaerius minutus Li & Cai gen. et sp. nov. differs from other genera of Sphaeriusidae in having unreduced apical maxillary palpomeres, lowered mesoventrite, large metacoxal plates, separated mesotrochanter and mesofemur, and equal pretarsal claws. The present study demonstrates the efficacy of confocal microscopy in studying minute and dark bioinclusions in amber.urn:lsid: zoobank.org :pub:6E6EDC20-744A-4A75-849A-4B6126628C15.

Citations

• The beetle tree of life reveals that C oleoptera survived end‐ P ermian mass extinction to diversify during the C retaceous terrestrial revolution
• Phylogeny of the Coleoptera Based on Morphological Characters of Adults and Larvae
• Age constraint on Burmese amber based on U–Pb dating of zircons
• MrBayes 3.2: Efficient Bayesian Phylogenetic Inference and Model Choice Across a Large Model Space
• Sphaeriusidae (Coleoptera, Myxophaga): A new beetle family to the fauna of Serbia
• The mid-Cretaceous †LepiceratusGen. nov. and the Evolution of the Relict Beetle Family Lepiceridae (Insecta: Coleoptera: Myxophaga)
• Interactive Tree Of Life (iTOL) v5: an online tool for phylogenetic tree display and annotation

Cited by

• 2023 in paleoentomology [wikipedia]
• Myxophaga [wikipedia]

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