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Issue: Vol. 8 No. 6: November–December 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-12-30
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.8.6.11
Page range: 683–693
Abstract views: 84
PDF downloaded: 50

A new japygid species (Hexapoda: Diplura) from Cretaceous Kachin amber

Museu Valencià de Ciències Naturals, Servei de Patrimoni Històric, Ajuntament de València, 46002 València, Spain
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Development Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, 510631 Guangzhou, China
Departament de Botànica i Geologia, Facultat de Ciències Biològiques, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME), CSIC, 46004 València, Spain
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China; Nanjing College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 211135 Nanjing, China
Laboratori d’Investigació d’Entomologia, Departament de Zoologia, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Development Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, 510631 Guangzhou, China
Cenomanian Japygoidea Myanmar taxonomy Hexapoda Diplura

Abstract

A new species of Diplura, belonging to the little-known and poorly diverse hexapod family Japygidae, is described as Metajapyx zhangi Sendra, Sánchez-García, Peñalver & Luan sp. nov. The specimen, a complete and well-preserved male, was discovered in mid-Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Kachin amber from northern Myanmar. Diplurans are rare in the fossil record due to their soil and subterranean habits. The new species is assigned to the genus Metajapyx Silvestri, 1933, and represents its first fossil species. Metajapyx zhangi sp. nov. is compared with the extant species of the genus and with the only other japygid species described from Kachin amber. The diagnosis is based on a combination of characters, including the number of antennomeres, body chaetotaxy, and the characteristics of the abdominal sclerites and cerci. These results improve understanding of anatomical variation among Metajapyx species and point to remarkable morphological stasis across deep geological time. This discovery also provides new evidence on the early morphological diversification of Japygoidea and the faunal composition of Cretaceous soil-dwelling predators.

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