A new genus and species of Dermestidae (Coleoptera) from the Eckfeld Maar crater (Middle Eocene, Germany)

Abstract

Eckfeldattagenus eocenicus gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Middle Eocene Eckfeld Maar (Germany) on the basis of completely preserved specimens, representing one of the rare reports of fossil skin beetles (Coleoptera: Dermestidae: Attageninae). The new genus and species differs from all other Dermestidae by the very flat body form and pronotum, and its unique structure of the antennal club and the wrinkled elytral surface. Dermestidae commonly referred to as skin, larder and carpet beetles are characterized by a variety of ecological habits and a fascinating biology. Most genera are scavengers that feed on dry animal or plant material such as skin or pollen, animal hair, feathers, dead insects or natural fibers. They are even widely used to clean bones during the preparation of skeletons for osteological studies and forensic entomological. In the literature, the traces left on skeletal remains by the family Dermestidae have been documented for dinosaurs (Paik 2000, Roberts et al. 2007, Britt et al. 2008, Chin & Bishop 2008, Bader et al. 2009 The cosmopolitan beetle family Dermestidae comprises more than 1460 described species (Háva 2003(Háva , 2013. According to a cladistic-based analysis of higher categories within the family Dermestidae (Lawrence & Slipinski 2005, Kiselyova & McHugh 2006, six subfamilies could be recognized: Dermestinae (including Marioutinae), Thorictinae, Trinodinae (including Thylodriadinae), Orphilinae, Attageninae and Megatominae; whereas only members of the Thorictinae are yet unknown from the fossil record. The geological history of the family was summarized by Háva & Prokop (2004) and Kirejtshuk et al. (2009), with new information appended in the present contribution (appendix). The earliest fossils assigned tentatively to Dermestidae are isolated elytra from the Triassic deposits of Queensland, described by Dunstan (1923), but the assignment of these fossils was doubted by Háva & Prokop (2004). The first definitive remains of the family have been recorded from the Lower Cretaceous Lebanese amber (Kirejtshuk et al. 2009). However, the majority of fossil dermestids were described from inclusions in Baltic (40-35 Ma BP) and Dominican Amber (20-17 Ma BP) -most of these are representing relatively modern groups, thereby relating more to questions of Tertiary biogeography than to higher-level branching patterns (Kiselyova & McHugh 2006).Herein we provide the description of a new Paleogene dermestid beetle from the Middle Eocene Eckfeld Maar. This deposit has produced a broad spectrum of fossils ranging from organic molecules, micro-organisms, aquatic invertebrates, plants and insects and their varied associations, to a wide range of vertebrates including articulated mammals exhibiting soft tissue preservation and gut contents (e.g., Lutz et al. 2010). The new species belongs to the Attageninae of the Dermestidae and is placed in a new genus most probably closely related to the extant genus Attagenus Latreille, 1802. Material and methodsThe Fossillagerstätte of Eckfeld is a deposit of...

Mitogenomic data elucidate the phylogeny and evolution of life strategies in Dermestidae (Coleoptera)

“…The tribe Cretodermestini was proposed based on these specimens and placed in Attageninae (Deng et al, 2017b), while other inclusions were assigned to extinct Cretoattagenus Deng et al and the extant genera Attagenus Latreille and Megatoma Herbst (Attageninae and Megatominae; Cai et al, 2017;Deng et al, 2017b;Háva, 2020;Háva & Damgaard, 2017). The Tertiary fauna is highly similar to extant dermestids, and individuals trapped in Dominican and Baltic amber have been placed in 13 extant genera (Háva & Prokop, 2004;Háva & Wappler, 2014; Table S2).…”