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

Abstract

Peris, David, Delclòs, Xavier, Soriano, Carmen, and Perrichot, Vincent. 2014 A new fossil species of auger beetle (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae), preserved in midCretaceous (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.

The peril of dating beetles

“…A more detailed justification after Parham et al 's () criteria is provided in F ile S 3. References: 1, Kirejtshuk et al (); 2, Crowson (); 3, Tan et al (); 4, Kirejtshuk & Poinar (); 5, Ge et al (); 6, Prokin et al (2013a); 7, Cassola & Werner, (); 8, Cai et al (); 9, Cai et al (); 10, Fikáček et al (); 11, Nikolajev & Ren (); 12, Nikolajev & Ren (); 13, Bai et al (); 14, Jin et al (); 15, Pan et al (); 16, Cai et al (); 17, Peris et al (); 18, Prokin & Ren, (); 19, Cai et al (); 20, Peris et al (); 21, Peris et al (); 22, Kirejtshuk & Nel (); 23, Kirejtshuk et al (); 24, Perrichot et al (); 25, Batelka et al (); 26, Falin & Engel (); 27, Engel & Grimaldi (); 28, Liu et al (); 29, Grimaldi & Engel (); 30, Kirejtshuk et al (); 31, Liu et al (); 32, Yu et al (); 33, Cai et al (); 34, Wang et al (); 35, Poinar (); 36, Legalov (); 37, Kirejtshuk et al ().…”

Evolutionary and paleobiological implications of Coleoptera (Insecta) from Tethyan-influenced Cretaceous ambers

“…The paleobiological record also supports this: one anaxyelid woodwasps that laid eggs in recently burned wood (Ortega-Blanco et al, 2008) and the abundant gleicheniacean ferns trichomes, an invasive group of ferns after wildfires (Pérez-de la Fuente et al, 2012), became embedded in Spanish amber. Furthermore, one bostrichid coleopteran from genus Stephanopachys Waterhouse, 1888, that is particularly attracted by young trees damaged by wildfire, became embedded in French amber (Peris et al, 2014a). All these published taxa and some other unpublished specimens are related with primary succession pioneers following wildfires.…”

“…Because of this, several new higher groups have been created that contain some of these fossils (see for example, Peris and Delclòs, 2015). In contrast, beetles from French and Myanmar ambers fit easily into Recent families and in several cases even in Recent genera, showing a remarkable stasis (Peris et al, 2014a;Peris and Háva, in press). It seems that Lebanese and Spanish ambers contain proportions of specimens that are rather different from those of Recent faunas, which in some cases could be considered ancient, currently unknown or probably extinct.…”

Rediscovering a Forgotten System of Symbiosis: Historical Perspective and Future Potential

“…(Ptinidae s.s. + Anobiidae s.s. ). These beetles are generally considered to be small bodied (2–5 mm), morphologically homogeneous, and ecologically static ( Figure 3 a) [ 49 , 163 , 164 , 165 ]. Counter to this narrative, many species specialize on extremely different plant and animal materials (grains, stored products, wood, woody fungi, dung, dried animal carcasses) ( Figure 3 b), which can have metabolites or toxins that make them difficult to digest [ 49 , 166 , 167 ].…”