YET ANOTHER UNUSUAL NEW TYPE OF LACEWING LARVA PRESERVED IN 100-MILLION-YEAR OLD AMBER FROM MYANMAR

Lacewing larvae are mostly predatory, highly mobile larval forms of Insecta. The modern fauna yields several morphotypes of lacewing larvae, each closely associated with a distinct evolutionary lineage within the group of lacewings, Neuroptera. Back in the Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago, many of these larval forms had already evolved. Additionally, many larval forms seem to have been present that are now extinct. We report here a new form, which appears to be extinct now. This new larva has a prominent forward projecting labrum like larval forms of Nevrorthidae and Psychopsidae. It furthermore has (again similar to the latter two) curved venom-injecting stylets formed by mandibles and maxillae. We used quantitative outline analysis to compare the new larva to those of Nevrorthidae and Psychopsidae. The results of this analysis demonstrate that the new larva differs in all aspects of head capsule shape from all known larvae of Nevrorthidae. Its head shape is more similar to that of many larvae of Psychopsidae, yet also here the new larva differs recognisably in one principal component. Also qualitative differences clearly differentiate the new larva from already known ones. Hence, the new larva represents a new, so far unknown morphotype of lacewing larva. This finding adds to the growing 'zoo' of unusual lacewing larvae back in the Cretaceous, indicating that form diversity and ecological diversity of lacewings were much higher 100 million years ago

THE LONG TRAIL: A CHIMERA-LIKE FOSSIL CRUSTACEAN INTERPRETED AS DECAPODA, STOMATOPODA, AMPHIPODA AND FINALLY ISOPODA

The process of interpreting and evaluating a fossil is a difficult task. Isopoda is a species rich group of peracarid eumalacostracans which represent quite a challenge when found as fossils, independent of whether we are working with fragmentary or more complete specimens. Here we describe a new fossil species of crustacean, Platuropodus odysseus n. gen. n. sp., from the Irati Formation, Permian of Paraná Basin, Brazil. After misinterpretations, the fossil taxon is recognised here as a representative of Isopoda. The new species presents characters found in Phreatoicidea, Asellota and Oniscidea in a unique combination for the fossil and extant record, such as two pairs of sub-chelate anterior trunk appendages, a short region after the anus and flat uropods. This chimera-like morphology and a morphometric analysis of the sub-chelae indicate convergent evolution in the early diversification of Isopoda. The morphological diversification present in the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic fossil record of Eumalacostraca indicate a “push of the past” effect in different ingroups of Peracarida

The first adult mantis lacewing from Baltic amber, with an evaluation of the post-Cretaceous loss of morphological diversity of raptorial appendages in Mantispidae

Mantis lacewings (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) are prominent and charismatic predatory representatives of Insecta. Nevertheless, representatives of the group are surprisingly scarce in Paleogene deposits after a relative abundance of specimens known from Cretaceous. Here we present Mantispa? damzenogedanica sp. nov., representing the first adult of Mantispidae described from Baltic amber and the only Eocene adult mantispid hitherto preserved in amber. The new fossil species is also among the earliest representatives of Mantispinae, certainly the oldest adult of this group described from amber. Additionally, we discuss the changes through time in the ecological morphospace within Mantispidae based on the morphological diversity (≈disparity) of the raptorial legs. Possible explanations for the post-Cretaceous decline in the morphological diversity of mantis lacewings are posited

New species of Tanaidacea from Cretaceous Kachin amber, with a brief review of the fossil record of tanaidacean crustaceans

Tanaidaceans are benthic, mostly marine, crustaceans that live burrowed in the substrate or in self-built tubes. The fossil record of Tanaidacea reaches back to the Carboniferous, 350 million years ago, but it is especially species-rich in Cretaceous amber sites from Spain and France. We report and formally describe a new species of Tanaidacea from 100-million-year-old Kachin amber, from the Hukawng Valley, Northern Myanmar, the first record of Cretaceous tanaidaceans outside Europe. The combination of character states of Tanaidaurum kachinensis gen. nov. et sp. nov. suggests that the new species is a representative of the early diversification of an unnamed group (Paratanaoidea+Tanaidoidea), an ingroup of the monophyletic group Tanaidomorpha. We briefly review the biased fossil record of Tanaidacea and present its abundance in European amber sites

After 100 years: a detailed view of an eumalacostracan crustacean from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Lagerstätte with raptorial appendages unique to Euarthropoda

The Solnhofen Konservat-Lagerstätte yields a great number of remarkably preserved fossils of eumalacostracan crustaceans that help us understand the early radiation of several groups with modern representatives. One fossil from there, Francocaris grimmi Broili, 1917 is a small shrimp-like crustacean originally described about 100 years ago as a mysidacean crustacean (opossum shrimps and relatives) from latest Kimmeridgian – early Tithonian (Upper Jurassic) of the Solnhofen Lithographic Limestones of Southern Germany. New material with exceptionally preserved specimens, allied with modern imaging techniques (mostly composite fluorescence microscopy), allows us to provide a detailed re-description of this species. The most striking feature of Francocaris grimmi is an extremely elongated thoracopod 7 with its distal elements forming a spiny sub-chela. This character supports a sister group relationship of Francocaris grimmi with Eucopiidae, an ingroup of Lophogastrida, pelagic peracaridans common in marine environments throughout the world. We also discuss other supposed fossil representatives of Lophogastrida, identifying all of them as problematic at best. The structure of the sub-chela in F. grimmi indicates an original use in raptorial behaviour. Francocaris grimmi appears to be unique in possessing such a far posterior sub-chelate appendage as a major raptorial structure. In most representatives of Euarthropoda in which sub-chelate appendages occur and are used for food intake, they are usually closer to the mouth

The first adult mantis lacewing from Baltic amber, with an evaluation of the post-Cretaceous loss of morphological diversity of raptorial appendages in Mantispidae

Mantis lacewings (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) are prominent and charismatic predatory representatives of Insecta. Nevertheless, representatives of the group are surprisingly scarce in Paleogene deposits after a relative abundance of specimens known from Cretaceous. Here we present Mantispa? damzenogedanica sp. nov., representing the first adult of Mantispidae described from Baltic amber and the only Eocene adult mantispid hitherto preserved in amber. The new fossil species is also among the earliest representatives of Mantispinae, certainly the oldest adult of this group described from amber. Additionally, we discuss the changes through time in the ecological morphospace within Mantispidae based on the morphological diversity (≈disparity) of the raptorial legs. Possible explanations for the post-Cretaceous decline in the morphological diversity of mantis lacewings are posited