Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 3 No. 1: March 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-03-30
DOI: 10.11646/mesozoic.3.1.7
Page range: 85-90
Abstract views: 10
PDF downloaded: 8

A new geinitziid forewing reveals biostratigraphic correlation between Daohugou and Shar Teg

State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Insecta Polyneoptera Mesozoic Yanliao biota Middle–Late Jurassic

Abstract

The Middle–Late Jurassic insect assemblages of the Asian interior, such as the Daohugou and Shar Teg biotas, provide critical windows into insect evolution. These biotas share similar faunal compositions, yet their similarities are largely limited to the generic level. This lack of species-level evidence has hindered precise stratigraphic correlation. In this study, we describe a complete forewing of a geinitziid fossil from the Haifanggou Formation at the Daohugou locality, Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia. The specimen is identified as Sinosepididontus shartegicus Aristov et al., 2009, a species previously known only from a basal wing fragment recovered from the lower Shar Teg sequence in southwestern Mongolia. Based on this well-preserved new material, we provide an emended diagnosis and supplementary description for S. shartegicus, offering the first full characterization of its wing venation. The discovery of S. shartegicus in the Daohugou biota substantially reinforces the biotic link between the Daohugou and Shar Teg assemblages. Based on regional geological data, we correlate the Shar Teg sequence with the Haifanggou Formation, and we further correlate the overlying Ulan Malgait sequence with the Tiaojishan Formation.

References

  1. Aristov, D.S., Wappler, T. & Rasnitsyn, A.P. (2009) New and little-known grylloblattids of the family Geinitziidae (Insecta: Grylloblattida) from the Triassic and Jurassic of Europe, Asia, and South Africa. Paleontological Journal, 43, 418–424. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030109040091
  2. Cui, Y.Y., Storozhenko, S.Yu. & Ren, D. (2012) New and little-known species of Geinitziidae (Insecta: Grylloblattida) from the Middle Jurassic of China, with notes on taxonomy, habitus and habitat of these insects. Alcheringa, 36, 251–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2012.628806
  3. Deng, S.H., Lu, Y.Z., Fan, R., Pan, Y.H., Cheng, X.S., Fu, G.B., Wang, Q.F., Pan, H.Z., Shen, Y.B., Wang, Y.Q., Zhang, H.C., Jia, C.K., Duan, W.Z. & Fang, L.H. (2010) The Jurassic system in northern Xinjiang. China University of Science and Technology Press, Hefei, 219 pp.
  4. Duan, Y., Zheng, S.L., Hu, D.Y., Zhang, L.J. & Wang, W.L. (2009) Preliminary report on Middle Jurassic strata and fossils from Linglongta area, Jianchang, Liaoning. Global Geology, 28, 143–147. [In Chinese with English abstract]
  5. Fang, Y.N., Wu, C.D., Guo, Z.J., Hou, K.J., Dong, L.H., Wang, L. & Li, L. (2015) Provenance of the southern Junggar Basin in the Jurassic: Evidence from detrital zircon geochronology and depositional environments. Sedimentary Geology, 315, 47–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2014.10.014
  6. Gubin, Y.M. & Sinitza, S.M. (1996) Shar−Teg: a Unique Mesozoic Locality of Asia. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin, 60, 311–318.
  7. Handlirsch, A. (1906) Die fossilen insekten und die phylogenie der rezenten formen, parts I-IV. Ein Handbuch fur Palaontologen und Zoologen, 640 pp.
  8. Huang, D.Y. (2015) Yanliao biota and Yanshan Movement. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, 54, 501–546. [In Chinese with English abstract]
  9. Huang, D.Y. (2019) Jurassic integrative stratigraphy and timescale of China. Science China Earth Sciences, 62, 223–255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-017-9268-7
  10. Huang, D.Y., Cai, C.Y., Fu, Y.Z. & Su, Y.T. (2018) The middle-late Jurassic Yanliao entomofauna. Palaeoentomology, 1, 3–31. https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.1.1.2
  11. Huang, D.Y. & Nel, A. (2008) New ‘Grylloblattida’ related to the genus Prosepididontus Handlirsch, 1920 in the Middle Jurassic of China (Insecta: Geinitziidae). Alcheringa, 32, 395–403. https://doi.org/10.1080/03115510802417893
  12. Huang, D.Y., Wu, H. & Dong, F.B. (2009) Discovery and preliminary study of fossil caddis case in China. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, 48 (4), 646–653. [In Chinese with English abstract]
  13. Khramov, A.V. (2010) A new lacewing (Insecta: Neuroptera: Grammolingiidae) from the Upper Jurassic of Mongolia. Paleontological Journal, 44 (2), 188–191.
  14. Kopylov, D.S. & Rasnitsyn, A.P. (2025) Anaxyelidae of Karatau: 100 Years After. Insects, 16, 943. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects16090943
  15. Liao, H.Y., Shen, Y.B. & Huang, D.Y. (2017) Conchostracans of the Middle–Late Jurassic Daohugou and Linglongta beds in NE China. Palaeoworld, 26, 317–330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2016.11.001
  16. Mandelshtam, M.I. (1947) Ostracoda from the middle Jurassic of the Mangyshlak Peninsula. In: Mikrofauna neftyanykh mestorozhdenii Kavkaza, Emby i Tsentral’noi Azii (Microfauna of oil deposits of the Caucasus, Emba, and Central Asia). Gostoptekhizdat, Leningrad, pp. 239–256. [In Russian]
  17. Ponomarenko, A.G., Aristov, D.S., Bashkuev, A.S., Gubin, Y.M., Khramov, A.V., Lukashevich, E.D., Popov, Y.A., Pritykina, L.N., Sinitshenkova, N.D., Shcherbakov, D.E., Sukatsheva, I.D., Vassilenko, D.V., Vladimirova, E.V. & Yan, E.V. (2014) Upper Jurassic Lagerstätte Shar Teg, southwestern Mongolia. Paleontological Journal, 48 (14), 1573–1682. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030114140160
  18. Ren, D. (2002) A new lacewing family (Neuroptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. Insect Science, 9, 53–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7917.2002.tb00172.x
  19. Schubnel, T., Desutter-Grandcolas, L., Legendre, F., Prokop, J., Mazurier, A., Garrouste, R., Grandcolas, P. & Nel, A. (2020) To be or not to be: postcubital vein in insects revealed by microtomography. Systematic Entomology, 45, 327–336. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12399
  20. Scotese, C.R. (2014) Atlas of Jurassic paleogeographic maps, PALEOMAP atlas for arcGIS. Vol. 4. The Jurassic and Triassic, maps 32–42. PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, Illinois, 11 pp.
  21. Sharapova, E.G. (1947) Order Ostracoda. In: Krymgolts, G.Ya. (Ed.), Atlas rukovodyashchikh form iskopaemykh faun SSSR (Atlas of index forms of the fossil fauna of the USSR). Vol. 8. Nizhnii i srednii otdely yurskoi sistemy (Lower and Middle series of the Jurassic system). Gosgeolizdat, Moscow–Leningrad, pp. 208–216. [In Russian]
  22. Sodov, Z. (1993) Jurassic floras with Siberian affinities in south-western Mongolia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 38 (1-2), 115–124.
  23. Vršanský, P. (2004) Transitional Jurassic/Cretaceous cockroach assemblage (Insecta, Blattaria) from the Shar-Teg in Mongolia. Geologica Carpathica, 55 (6), 457–468.
  24. Wu, H. & Huang, D.Y. (2010) Diversity of Jurassic caddis cases (Insecta, Trichoptera). Earth Science Frontiers, 17 (Special Issue), 156–158.