First fossil tooth-necked fungus beetle (Coleoptera: Derodontidae): Juropeltastica sinica gen. n. sp. n. from the Middle Jurassic of China

Chenyang CAI; John F. LAWRENCE; Adam ŚLIPIŃSKI; Diying HUANG

First fossil tooth-necked fungus beetle (Coleoptera: Derodontidae): Juropeltastica sinica gen. n. sp. n. from the Middle Jurassic of China

2014

Chenyang CAI | John F. LAWRENCE | Adam ŚLIPIŃSKI | Diying HUANG

The first fossil tooth-necked fungus beetle, Juropeltastica sinica gen. n. sp. n., is described and illustrated based on a single impression fossil from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou beds (ca. 165 Ma) of northeastern China. It represents the first definitive fossil belonging to the extant family Derodontidae. Juropeltastica is placed in Derodontidae based on its overall body shape and size, head with complex systems of tubercles and grooves, pronotum with dentate lateral carinae, open mesocoxal cavities bordered by mesepimeron and metanepisternum, excavate metacoxae, and 5-segmented abdomen. The occurrence of a reliable derodontid fossil from 165 million years ago places Derodontidae among the small but growing number of beetle families of known Middle Jurassic age, which is important in the dating of phylogenetic trees.

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