The earliest occurrence and remarkable stasis of the family Bostrichidae (Coleoptera: Polyphaga) in Cretaceous Charentes amber

A new fossil species of auger beetle (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae), preserved in mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) amber from south-western France, is described as Stephanopachys vetus Peris, Delclòs et Perrichot sp. n. The species is the earliest fossil bostrichid discovered to date, but is remarkabl...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPalaeontologia electronica Vol. 17; no. 1
Main Authors Peris, D, Delclòs, X, Soriano, C, Perrichot, V
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Coquina Press 01.01.2014
Subjects
Amber
Ambre
Beetles
Coleòpters
Cretaceous Period
Cretaci
Earth Sciences
Paleobiologia
Paleobiology
Sciences of the Universe
new species
Charente-Maritime
palaeoenvironment
synchrotron imaging
France
Beetle
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:A new fossil species of auger beetle (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae), preserved in mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) amber from south-western France, is described as Stephanopachys vetus Peris, Delclòs et Perrichot sp. n. The species is the earliest fossil bostrichid discovered to date, but is remarkably similar to Recent species of the genus Stephanopachys, supporting long morphological conservation in wood boring beetles. The specimen is fossilized in fully opaque amber and was imaged in 3D using propagation phase-contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography. Based on the ecology of extant related species habits, it is suggested that S. vetus sp. n. was a primary succession pioneer following wildfires in mid-Cretaceous forests. The fossil record of the family is reviewed.
ISSN:1094-8074
1935-3952
1094-8074
DOI:10.26879/408