The Evolutionary History of the Coleoptera

Kirejtshuk, Alexander G.

doi:10.3390/geosciences10030103

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 18 publications

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“…Fossils play an important role in our understanding of past processes including the origin, evolution and diversification of beetle lineages 1 , 2 . Among fossils, amber inclusions are especially valuable for scientists because they allow to observe the morphological features in much better detail than e.g., compression fossils 3 , 4 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The first mainland European Mesozoic click-beetle (Coleoptera: Elateridae) revealed by X-ray micro-computed tomography scanning of an Upper Cretaceous amber from Hungary

Szabó

Kundrata

Németh³

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Fossil bioinclusions in amber are invaluable source of information on the past evolution and diversity of various organisms, as well as on the paleoecosystems in general. The click-beetles, Elateridae, which originated and greatly diversified during the Mesozoic, are mostly known from the adpression-like fossils, and their diversity in the Cretaceous ambers is only poorly documented. In this study, we describe a new click-beetle based on an incomplete inclusion in ajkaite, an Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) amber from the Ajka Coal Formation from Hungary. We used X-ray micro-computed tomography scanning to reconstruct its morphology because it is deposited in an opaque piece of amber. Our results suggest that the newly described Ajkaelater merkli gen. et sp. nov. belongs to subfamily Elaterinae. It represents the first Mesozoic beetle reported from Hungary, and the first Mesozoic Elateridae formally described from mainland Europe. Our discovery supports an Eurasian distribution and diversification of Elaterinae already in the Cretaceous. The paleoenvironment of the Ajka Coal Formation agrees well with the presumed habitat preference of the new fossil taxon. The discovery of a presumably saproxylic click-beetle shed further light on the yet poorly known paleoecosystem of the Santonian present-day western Hungary.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The first mainland European Mesozoic click-beetle (Coleoptera: Elateridae) revealed by X-ray micro-computed tomography scanning of an Upper Cretaceous amber from Hungary

Szabó

Kundrata

Németh³

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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X-ray micro-computed tomography reveals a unique morphology in a new click-beetle (Coleoptera, Elateridae) from the Eocene Baltic amber

Kundrata

Bukejs

Prosvirov

2020

Sci Rep

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Beetle fossils are a rich source of information about the palaeodiversity and evolutionary history of the order Coleoptera. Despite the increasing rate of fossil research on click-beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae), the most diverse group in the superfamily Elateroidea, their fossil record has remained largely unstudied. This may be caused by the combination of their rather uniform external morphology and the suboptimal state of preservation and visibility in most fossil specimens. Here, we used X-ray micro-computed tomography to reconstruct the morphology of an interesting click-beetle from Eocene Baltic amber, which had some principal diagnostic characters obscured by opaque bubbles and body position. Our results suggest that the newly described Baltelater bipectinatus gen. et sp. nov. belongs to tribe Protelaterini within subfamily Lissominae. Since Protelaterini have a predominantly Gondwanan distribution, our discovery is of a great importance for the historical biogeography of the group. Very distinctive are the bipectinate antennae with 11 antennomeres and with rami beginning on antennomere IV, which are not found in any recent Elateridae. The discovery of a new click-beetle lineage from European Eocene amber sheds further light on the palaeodiversity and historical diversification of the family as well as on the composition of the extinct amber forest ecosystem.

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Neoichnological study of two species of burrowing darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) from larval to adult stages

Thacker

Hembree

2021

Ichnos

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The Evolutionary History of the Coleoptera

Abstract: In this Editorial, different aspects of palaeocoleopterological studies and contributions of the issue “The Evolutionary History of the Coleoptera” are discussed.

Cited by 3 publications

References 18 publications

The first mainland European Mesozoic click-beetle (Coleoptera: Elateridae) revealed by X-ray micro-computed tomography scanning of an Upper Cretaceous amber from Hungary

The first mainland European Mesozoic click-beetle (Coleoptera: Elateridae) revealed by X-ray micro-computed tomography scanning of an Upper Cretaceous amber from Hungary

X-ray micro-computed tomography reveals a unique morphology in a new click-beetle (Coleoptera, Elateridae) from the Eocene Baltic amber

Neoichnological study of two species of burrowing darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) from larval to adult stages

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