New fossils of Elateridae (Insecta, Coleoptera) from Early Cretaceous Jinju Formation (South Korea) with their implications to evolutionary diversity of extinct Protagrypninae

Abstract

Two new genera and species of Elateridae, Megalithomerus magohalmii gen. et sp. nov. and Koreagrypnus jinju gen. et sp. nov., are described based on two pairs of fossils from the late Early Cretaceous Jinju Formation in Jinju City, South Korea. Both Megalithomerus and Koreagrypnus represent the youngest occurrences of an extinct elaterid subfamily, Protagrypninae. Megalithomerus magohalmii is the largest known fossil elaterid. These newly described elaterids provide a better understanding of the morphological diversity and occurrence of Protagrypninae through geologic time.

Fossil Genera in Elateridae (Insecta, Coleoptera): A Triassic Origin and Jurassic Diversification

“…Pollostelasterini: Sohn et al, 2019: 9 [ 28 ]; unavailable name, incorrect subsequent spelling not in prevailing usage [ 41 ].…”

“…Literature. Dolin (1980: 23) [ 13 ], Carpenter (1992: 305) [ 38 ], Dolin & Nel (2002: 341) [ 89 ], Korneev & Cate (2005: 10) [ 46 ], Chang et al (2008: 55) [ 81 ], Dong & Huang (2009: 103) [ 22 ], Kirejtshuk et al (2010: 792) [ 82 ], Martin (2010: 932) [ 90 ], Dong & Huang (2011: 1225) [ 79 ], Ponomarenko et al (2012: 479) [ 83 ], Sohn et al (2019: 3) [ 28 ], Yu et al (2019: 382) [ 80 ].…”

“…Gender: masculine. Type species: Megalithomerus magohalmii Sohn & Nam in Sohn et al, 2019: 3 [ 28 ]; by original designation. Cretaceous of South Korea (113.0–100.5 Ma).…”

“…Literature. Dolin (1973: 75) [ 18 ], Dolin (1975: 51) [ 19 ], Carpenter (1992: 305) [ 38 ], Korneev & Cate (2005: 10) [ 46 ], Chang et al (2008: 60) [ 81 ], Chang et al (2009: 10) [ 17 ], Chang et al (2009: 1434) [ 91 ], Dong & Huang (2009: 103) [ 22 ], Kirejtshuk et al (2010: 791) [ 82 ], Dong & Huang (2011: 1225) [ 79 ], Sohn et al (2019: 3) [ 28 ], Yu et al (2019: 381) [ 80 ].…”

“…The Cenozoic Elateridae fossils are known mainly from the Eocene deposits of the United States and Europe [ 29 , 30 , 31 ], and from the Baltic amber [ 32 ]. Altogether, the fossil record of Elateridae includes approximately 300 species classified in more than 100 genera [ 28 , 33 ]. Regarding the fossil genera in Elateridae, Scudder [ 34 ] published the World catalogue of the fossil insects which included also taxa assigned to this family.…”