Cretonthophilus tuberculatus , a remarkable new genus and species of hister beetle (Coleoptera: Histeridae) from Cretaceous Burmese amber

The early history of the beetle family Histeridae is still very obscure. In part this results from difficulty resolving phylogenetic relationships at deeper levels (Caterino & Vogler, 2002; McKenna et al., 2015a). But it is also partly a result of a sparse and poorly documented fossil record (Chatzimanolis et al., 2006). Here we describe a new genus and species of fossil histerid from Burmese amber (~99 mya), which helps to address both of these problems. Although histerid fossils have been reported from a variety of fossil localities and strata, relatively few have been adequately described. Until recently, the earliest described species of Histeridae was Onthophilus intermedius Handschin (1944) from the Oligocene phosphorites of Quercy, France (23–28 mya). A number of other taxa have been reported from more recent amber (Trypanaeus hispaniolus Chatzimanolis et al.(2006), early to mid-Miocene—15–20 mya— Dominican amber) or limestone fossils (e.g. numerous Hister spp. from mid-Miocene—13 mya—deposits at Öhningen; Heer, 1862). While fossil histerids have been noted from older deposits, such as the Eocene Florissant shales (34 mya; Scudder, 1886) and Baltic amber (37.7 mya; Swedo & Sontag, 2009), little has been adequately described. Chatzimanolis et al. (2006) therefore remarked, “In particular, it should be hoped that definitive Mesozoic histerids will be discovered, particularly in Cretaceous ambers, as such taxa might contribute most greatly to our understanding of early histerid evolution. ” The first such discovery was the recent description of Pantostictus burmanicus Poinar and Brown (2009) from Burmese amber (99 mya), which pushed the fossil record for the family significantly earlier. Here we describe as a second Mesozoic record for the family a new genus and species of Histeridae that is of the same Middle Cretaceous age as Pantostictus burmanicus, but is highly distinct morphologically. This new pecimen resembles modern Onthophilinae, but exhibits a number of distinctive characteristics. This fossil pushes the origin of the Histeridae considerably earlier, showing that not only had the family arisen by this time, but it had diversified considerably

Cretaceous origin of the unique prey-capture apparatus in mega-diverse genus:stem lineage of Steninae rove beetles discovered in Burmese amber

Stenus is the largest genus of rove beetles and the second largest among animals. Its evolutionary success was associated with the adhesive labial prey-capture apparatus, a unique apomorphy of that genus. Definite Stenus with prey-capture apparatus are known from the Cenozoic fossils, while the age and early evolution of Steninae was hardly ever hypothesized. Our study of several Cretaceous Burmese amber inclusions revealed a stem lineage of Steninae that possibly possesses the Stenus-like prey-capture apparatus. Phylogenetic analysis of extinct and extant taxa of Steninae and putatively allied subfamilies of Staphylinidae with parsimony and Bayesian approaches resolved the Burmese amber lineage as a member of Steninae. It justified the description of a new extinct stenine genus Festenus with two new species, F. robustus and F. gracilis. The Late Cretaceous age of Festenus suggests an early origin of prey-capture apparatus in Steninae that, perhaps, drove the evolution towards the crown Stenus. Our analysis confirmed the well-established sister relationships between Steninae and Euaesthetinae and resolved Scydmaeninae as their next closest relative, the latter having no stable position in recent phylogenetic studies of rove beetles. Close affiliation of Megalopsidiinae, a subfamily often considered as a sister group to Euaesthetinae + Steninae clade, is rejected

Dispersal of thermophilic beetles across the intercontinental Arctic forest belt during the early Eocene

Abstract Massive biotic change occurred during the Eocene as the climate shifted from warm and equable to seasonal and latitudinally stratified. Mild winter temperatures across Arctic intercontinental land bridges permitted dispersal of frost-intolerant groups until the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, while trans-Arctic dispersal in thermophilic groups may have been limited to the early Eocene, especially during short-lived hyperthermals. Some of these lineages are now disjunct between continents of the northern hemisphere. Although Eocene climate change may have been one of the most important drivers of these ancient patterns in modern animal and plant distributions, its particular events are rarely implicated or correlated with group-specific climatic requirements. Here we explored the climatic and geological drivers of a particularly striking Neotropical-Oriental disjunct distribution in the rove beetle Bolitogyrus, a suspected Eocene relict. We integrated evidence from Eocene fossils, distributional and climate data, paleoclimate, paleogeography, and phylogenetic divergence dating to show that intercontinental dispersal of Bolitogyrus ceased in the early Eocene, consistent with the termination of conditions required by thermophilic lineages. These results provide new insight into the poorly known and short-lived Arctic forest community of the Early Eocene and its surviving lineages

Rote Liste und Artenverzeichnis der Laufkäfer Baden-Württembergs : (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

Vor über 10 Jahren wurde die erste Fassung einer Roten Liste und Checkliste gefährdeter Laufkäferarten Baden-Württembergs publiziert (TRAUTNER 1992), eine zweite Fassung, getrennt in Rote Liste und Artenverzeichnis, folgte 1996 (TRAUTNER 1996a, TRAUTNER & BRÄUNICKE 1996). Seit dieser Zeit hat sich der Kenntnisstand zu Verbreitung, Habitatansprüchen und Gefährdungssituation der Laufkäferarten in Baden-Württemberg wesentlich verbessert. Eine Neufassung der Roten Liste als wichtiges Instrument für die Praxis in Naturschutz und Landschaftsplanung war daher dringend erforderlich

Dispersal of thermophilic beetles across the intercontinental Arctic forest belt during the early Eocene

Massive biotic change occurred during the Eocene as the climate shifted from warm and equable to seasonal and latitudinally stratified. Mild winter temperatures across Arctic intercontinental land bridges permitted dispersal of frost-intolerant groups until the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, while trans-Arctic dispersal in thermophilic groups may have been limited to the early Eocene, especially during short-lived hyperthermals. Some of these lineages are now disjunct between continents of the northern hemisphere. Although Eocene climate change may have been one of the most important drivers of these ancient patterns in modern animal and plant distributions, its particular events are rarely implicated or correlated with group-specific climatic requirements. Here we explored the climatic and geological drivers of a particularly striking Neotropical-Oriental disjunct distribution in the rove beetle Bolitogyrus, a suspected Eocene relict. We integrated evidence from Eocene fossils, distributional and climate data, paleoclimate, paleogeography, and phylogenetic divergence dating to show that intercontinental dispersal of Bolitogyrus ceased in the early Eocene, consistent with the termination of conditions required by thermophilic lineages. These results provide new insight into the poorly known and short-lived Arctic forest community of the Early Eocene and its surviving lineages.© The Author(s) 201