Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 4272 No. 2: 29 May 2017
Type: Article
Published: 2017-05-29
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4272.2.7
Page range: 263–275
Abstract views: 531
PDF downloaded: 1

First record of hawker dragonflies from Eocene Baltic amber (Odonata: Anisoptera: Gomphaeschnidae)

Faculty of Biology, Department of Ecology – Animal Ecology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Karl-von-Frisch-Strasse 8, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
Am Stadtgarten 4, 71032 Böblingen, Germany.
Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB - UMR 7205 – CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, Entomologie, F-75005, Paris, France.
Odonata Gomphaeschnidae Gomphaeschnaoidinae Eocene Baltic amber gen. et sp. nov.

Abstract

Based on three specimens, the first record of hawker dragonflies from Baltic amber is described in a new genus with two new species: Elektrogomphaeschna peterthieli gen. et sp. nov. and E. annekeae sp. nov.. They belong to the family Gomphaeschnidae and are tentatively attributed to the extinct subfamily Gomphaeschnaoidinae. The latter was previously only known from Cretaceous fossils and is here shown to have survived the K-Pg mass extinction event. This discovery also confirms the still higher diversity of Gomphaeschnidae during the Paleogene compared to the Neogene that was dominated by the more derived Aeshnidae sensu stricto.

References

  1. Bechly, G. (1996a) Fossil Odonata in Tertiary amber. Petalura, 2, 19 pp.

    Bechly, G. (1996b) Morphologische Untersuchungen am Flügelgeäder der rezenten Libellen und deren Stammgruppenvertreter (Insecta: Pterygota: Odonata), unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Phylogenetischen Systematik und des Grundplanes der Odonata. Petalura, Special Volume 2, 1–402.

    Bechly, G. (1998) New fossil damselflies from Baltic amber, with description of a new species, a redescription of Litheuphaea carpenteri Fraser, and a discussion on the phylogeny of Epallagidae (Zygoptera: Caloptera). International Journal of Odonatology, 1 (1), 33–63.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13887890.1998.9748092

    Bechly, G., Nel, A., Martínez-Delclòs, X., Jarzembowski, E.A., Coram, R., Martill, D., Fleck, G., Escuillié, F., Wisshak, M.M. & Maisch, M. (2001) A revision and phylogenetic study of Mesozoic Aeshnoptera, with description of numerous new taxa (Insecta: Odonata: Anisoptera). Neue Paläontologische Abhandlungen, 4, 1–230.

    Bechly, G. & Wichard, W. (2008) Damselfly and dragonfly nymphs in Eocene Baltic amber (Insecta: Odonata), with aspects of their palaeobiology. Palaeodiversity, 1, 37–73.

    Bechly, G. (2016) Phylogenetic systematics of Odonata. Homepage on the Internet. Available from: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13756162/Website/odonata/system.htm (accessed 1 May 2017)

    Dijkstra, K.-D.B., Bechly, G. Bybee, S.N., Dow, R.A., Dumont, H.J., Fleck, G., Garrison, R.W., Hämäläinen, M., Kalkman, V.J., Karube, H., May, M.L., Orr, A.G., Paulson, D., Rehn, A.C., Theischinger, G., Trueman, J.W.H., Tol, J. von, von Ellenrieder, N. & Ware, J. (2013) The classification of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata). Zootaxa, 3703 (1), 36–45.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3703.1.9

    Fleck, G., Nel, A., de Plöeg, G. & Masselot, G. (2000) A fossil dragonfly from the Paris Basin amber of France (Lowermost Eocene) (Insecta, Odonata, Anisoptera). Acta Geologica Hispanica, 35, 131–134.

    Karube, H. & Yeh, W-C. (2001) Sarasaeschna gen. nov., with descriptions of female S. minuta (Asahina) and male penile structures of Linaeschna (Anisoptera: Aeshnidae). Tombo, Japanese Journal of Entomology, 43, 1–8.

    Martin, R. (1908–09) Aeschnines. Collections zoologiques du Baron Edm. de Selys Longchamps, Catalogue systématique et descriptif, 18 and 19, 1–84, 85–156.

    Nel, A. & Fleck, G. (2014) Dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) from the Late Eocene of the Isle of Wight. Earth and Environmental Science, Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 104, 283–306.
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S175569101400005X

    Nel, A., Fleck, G., Garcia, G., Gomez, B., Ferchaud, P. & Valentin, X. (2015) New dragonflies from the lower Cenomanian of France enlighten the timing of the odonatan turnover at the Early - Late Cretaceous boundary. Cretaceous Research, 52, 108–117.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2014.08.005

    Nel, A., Martínez-Delclòs, X., Paicheler, J.C. & Henrotay, M. (1993) Les 'Anisozygoptera' fossiles. Phylogénie et classification (Odonata). Martinia, Numéro Hors Série 3, 1–311.

    Nel, A., Néraudeau, D., Perrichot, V., Girard, V. & Gomez, B. (2008) A new dragonfly family in the Upper Cretaceous of France (Insecta: Odonata: Aeshnoptera). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 53, 165–168.
    https://doi.org/10.4202/app.2008.0113

    Petrulevičius, J.F., Nel, A. & Voisin, J.-F. (2010) A new genus and species of darner dragonfly (Aeshnidae: Odonata) from the lower Eocene of Laguna del Hunco, Patagonia, Argentina. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, N.S., 46, 271–275.

    Riek, E.F. & Kukalová-Peck, J. (1984) A new interpretation of dragonfly wing venation based upon Early Carboniferous fossils from Argentina (Insecta: Odonatoidea) and basic characters states in pterygote wings. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 62, 1150–1166.
    https://doi.org/10.1139/z84-166

    Schädel, M. & Bechly, G. (2016) First Record of Anisoptera (Insecta: Odonata) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese Amber. Zootaxa, 4103 (6), 537–549.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4103.6.4

    Standke, G. (2008) Bitterfelder Bernstein gleich Baltischer Bernstein? – Eine geologische Raum- Zeit- Betrachtung und genetische Schlußfolgerungen. Exkursionsführer und Veröffentlichungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften, 236, 11–33.

    von Ellenrieder, N. (2002a) A phylogenetic analysis of the extant Aeshnidae (Odonata: Anisoptera). Systematic Entomology, 27, 437–467.
    https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3113.2002.00190.x

    von Ellenrieder, N. (2002b) Redescription of Linaeschna polli Martin, 1909 (Anisoptera: Aeshnidae: Gomphaeschninae). Odonatologica, 31, 409–413.

    Wighton, D.C. & Wilson, M.V.H. (1986) The Gomphaeschninae (Odonata: Aeshnidae): new fossil genus, reconstructed phylogeny, and geographical history. Systematic Entomology, 11, 505–522.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.1986.tb00539.x

    Wolfe, A.P., Tappert, R., Muehlenbachs, K., Boudreau, M., McKellar, R.C., Basinger, J.F. & Garrett, A. (2009) A new proposal concerning the botanical origin of Baltic amber. Proceedings of the Royal Society (B), 276, 3403–3412.
    https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0806

    Zhang, B.-L., Ren, D. & Pang, H. (2008) Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata: Gomphaeschnidae) from the Yixian Formation in Inner Mongolia, China. Progress in Natural Science, 18, 59–64.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnsc.2007.07.005

    Zheng, D.-R., Wang, B., Jarzembowski, E.A., Chang, S.-C. & Nel, A. (2016a) Burmadysagrioninae, a new subfamily (Odonata: Zygoptera: Dysagrionidae) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Cretaceous Research, 67, 126–132.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2016.07.006

    Zheng, D.-R., Jarzembowski, E.A., Chang, S.-C. & Wang, B. (2016b) A new true dragonfly (Odonata, Anisoptera, Gomphaeschnaoidini) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 127, 629–632.

    Zheng, D.-R., Chang, S.-C., Jarzembowski, E.A. & Wang, B. (2017) The first aeshnoid dragonfly (Odonata: Anisoptera: Telephlebiidae) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Cretaceous Research, 72, 105–109.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2016.12.013