Abstract
The family Pseudironidae, formerly regarded as a subfamily of Heptageniidae, is today represented by the single Nearctic genus Pseudiron McDunnough, 1931. Fossil representatives of this lineage are exceedingly rare. In this study, a new fossil species, Burmella jiangchaoi sp. nov., is described from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber of northern Myanmar. Detailed morphological examination of the new material and previously described taxa supports the synonymy Burmella Godunko, Martynov & Staniczek, 2021 = Longiheptagenia Yang, Zhao & Ren, 2023 syn. nov.. The genus Burmella was previously placed in Vietnamellidae, but re-evaluation indicates that its rounded hind wings result from secondary reduction, whereas the combination of its tarsal configuration and fore wing venation correspond to the diagnostic features of Pseudironidae. Consequently, Burmella is here transferred to Pseudironidae. The discovery of Burmella jiangchaoi sp. nov. provides the first fossil record of Pseudironidae from the Cretaceous, extending the known temporal and geographical range of the family from the modern Nearctic region to mid-Cretaceous Southeast Asia.
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