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Issue: Vol. 5396 No. 1: 29 Dec. 2023
Type: Article
Published: 2023-12-29
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5396.1.16
Page range: 112-123
Abstract views: 133
PDF downloaded: 13

A new species of Polydesmidae (Myriapoda, Diplopoda, Polydesmida) from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy; Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment; Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanjing 210008; China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy; Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment; Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanjing 210008; China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy; Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment; Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanjing 210008; China
Myriapoda Cretaceous Myanmar millipede polydesmids taxonomy

Abstract

A new species of the ‘flat-backed’ millipede family Polydesmidae, Propolydesmus cretaceus sp. nov., is described from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Detailed morphological characters are provided on the basis of 3 well-preserved adults (2 males and 1 females), 2 female subadults, and 14 additional specimens, using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) with computer-aided 3D-reconstructions. The new species can be placed in the extant genus Propolydesmus. It majorly differs from other congeners due to the stronger gonopod acropodite and the presence of a bipartite gonopod exomerite.

 

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