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Type: Article
Published: 2020-12-21
Page range: 632–640
Abstract views: 396
PDF downloaded: 3

A close affinity of the enigmatic genus Stegocoleus with Lepidomma revealed by new fossil evidence (Coleoptera: Archostemata: Ommatidae)

State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, United Kingdom
Hokkaido University Museum, Kita 8, Nishi 5, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0808, Japan
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, United Kingdom
Coleoptera Archostemata Ommatidae Stegocoleus Lepidomma Burmese amber

Abstract

Stegocoleus Jarzembowski & Wang is an enigmatic genus in the family Ommatidae, known to date only from Burmese amber. This genus possesses a unique combination of characters, including antennal grooves on the ventral side of head, well-developed epipleural rims, and presence of separated procoxae, which makes its systematic position unclear. Here we report two new species of Lepidomma from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, L. longisquama sp. nov. and L. jarzembowskii sp. nov. Based on these well-preserved specimens and new morphological details revealed by widefield fluorescence and confocal microscopy, we discuss the morphological similarities between Lepidomma and the enigmatic Stegocoleus. We suggest that Stegocoleus is not a basal ommatid, but a highly derived form of ommatid beetles.

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