Proteaceae Leaf Fossils: Phylogeny,Diversity, Ecology and Austral Distributions

Foliar fossils of Proteaceae are reviewed, and useful specimens for interpreting evolution, and past and present distributions and environments are discussed. There are no definite Cretaceous occurrences. However, there is evidence of extant lineages dating from the Paleocene onwards, including tribe Persoonieae of subfamily Persoonioideae and each of the four tribes of subfamily Grevilleoideae. High diversity and abundance characterizes the Australian fossil record, including sclerophyllous and xeromorphic forms, but there is little evidence of the prominent extant subfamily Proteoideae. New Zealand had a much higher diversity of Proteaceae than at present, including Oligo-Miocene species of open vegetation. The South American leaf fossil record is not extensive. However, the fossil records of Embothrieae and Orites are consistent with the distributions of their extant relatives in South America and Australia being the result of vicariance. Overall, there is a need for more research on placing Proteaceae leaf fossils in a phylogenetic context.     

A specimen of Curculioninae (Curculionidae,Coleoptera) from the Lower Cretaceous,Araripe Basin,north‐eastern Brazil

Abstract: A specimen of Curculionidae (Curculioninae) is described as Arariperhinus monnei gen. et sp. nov. The specimen is preserved on a laminated limestone sample of the Crato Formation (Santana Group), Lower Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian), and was collected from a quarry near Nova Olinda, Chapada do Araripe, State of Ceará, Brazil. The genus is placed in the subfamily Curculioninae because of its strongly convex body and relatively slender rostrum, but mainly by its rounded eyes and lack of a prosternal sulcus and tibial spurs. The very prominent eyes in lateral view, a cylindrical rostrum and a straight posterior margin of ventrite II are strong indications that this fossil belongs to the tribe Anthonomini. However, the claws, which would resolve the exact placement of this fossil, are poorly preserved. Arariperhinus monnei gen. et sp. nov. is distinguishable by the combination of several characters and the first record of the family Curculionidae in the Santana Group; it is the oldest record of a member of the subfamily Curculioninae.     

Parhadrestiinae, a new subfamily for Parhadrestia James and Cretaceogaster Teskey (Diptera: Stratiomyidae)

Abstract. A new subfamily of Stratiomyidae is proposed for Parhadrestia James and Cretaceogaster Teskey (fossil from Upper Cretaceous Canadian amber). Evidence is delimited that indicates that this subfamily is the sister-group to all other known stratiomyids. Taxa in the subfamily are systematically described, including a new species, Parhadrestia curico , from Chile.     

Fossil wood of the Juglandaceae: Some questions of taxonomy,evolution, and phylogeny in the family based on wood anatomy

Some problems in the taxonomy of the Juglandaceae are discussed based on wood anatomy; the identification of fossil juglandaceous wood is considered. Data on fossil wood of the Juglandaceae are summarized; a key for identification of wood anatomy in modern and fossil Juglandaceae is compiled. Wood anatomical characters in members of the family are discussed in the light of major evolutionary trends in the secondary xylem of dicots, and a comparative characterization of members of the family is developed. A hypothesis is proposed that the subfamily Engelhardioideae is the most primitive member of the Juglandaceae based on wood anatomy, the tribe Juglandeae and subfamily Platycaryoideae are slightly more highly specialized, and the tribe Hicorieae is the most advanced. Evolutionary relationships between the members of the Juglandaceae are reviewed based on wood anatomy.     

Fossil water‐penny beetles (Coleoptera: Psephenidae: Eubrianacinae) from the Eocene of Europe,with remarks on their phylogenetic position and biogeography

Abstract: A species of water‐penny beetles is recorded from larval instars from the Middle Eocene Messel pit fossil site in Germany. This species clearly belongs to the psephenid subfamily Eubrianacinae, but its precise systematic affinities remain unclear. It is the second fossil species of this taxon recorded from Europe. The holotype of the first fossil species, Eubrianax vandeli Bertrand and Laurentiaux, 1963, is lost. The high number of fossil specimens from Messel allowed discussion of stratigraphic and spatial occurrence of the eubrianacine species in the Messel pit, but its larval ontogeny could not be unravelled. Because of the high number of fossils and their wide occurrence, it is inferred that the species from Messel gen. sp. 1 was an autochthonous faunal element of the Eocene Lake Messel, which might indicate that some parts of the former Lake Messel had a shore area with stones. The analysis of the phylogenetic position of both Eocene eubrianacine species showed that their phylogenetic placement cannot be resolved because preservational influences limit the evaluation of characters. The historical biogeography of Psephenidae and Eubrianacinae is analysed and discussed. The fossil record shows that psephenid beetles have fossil members occurring outside their current distribution range, so interpretations of their biogeography based only on extant members can be misleading.     

A new genus of Chifengiinae (Orthoptera: Ensifera: Prophalangopsidae) from the Middle Jurassic (Jiulongshan Formation) of Inner Mongolia,China

The Middle Jurassic Ashangopsis daohugouensis, gen. et sp. n., of the prophalangopsid subfamily Chifengiinae is described based on two well-preserved specimens collected from the fossil locality near Daohugou at Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, Northeast China. The new genus is characterized by the particular shape of its pronotum, its hind leg, and stridulatory veins that only concern the cubital area but not the anal area, unlike in other Chifengiinae.     

Fruit fossils of Rosoideae (Rosaceae) from the late Pliocene of northwestern Yunnan,Southwest China

The subfamily Rosoideae Focke (Rosaceae) has a good fossil record in the Northern Hemisphere, but these fossil records are confined mainly to a few genera, whereas the majority, in particular those with herbaceous members, are still under‐represented. In this study, we describe new fruit fossils of Rosoideae, including Fragaria achenes and Rubus endocarps, from the late Pliocene of northwestern Yunnan, Southwest China. These fossils add new accounts to the fossil archive of Rosoideae and provide the first fossil record of Fragaria in East Asia. The new fossil findings provide a historical backdrop for the modern diversity and distribution of the subfamily in northwestern Yunnan, a topographically complex area accommodating a high diversity for many plant groups. Our Rubus fossils, in combination with other nearby coeval occurrences of the genus, suggest that Rubus was already establishing its modern diversity in northwestern Yunnan during the late Pliocene. This finding enriches our knowledge of the post‐Neogene diversification of flowering plants in northwestern Yunnan, which is thought to be largely driven by dramatic mountain uplifts and environmental complications associated with the southeastern extension of the Tibetan Plateau.     

陕西蓝田公王岭“蓝田伟猴”化石的再研究

蓝田公王岭动物群中,唯一的一种非人灵长类化石由胡长康、齐陶(1978)定名为Megamacaca lantianensis(蓝田伟猴)。但按其形态,我们觉得把它归于疣猴亚科比较适宜。特别是与该亚科中的金丝猴属(Rhinopithecus)更为相像,例如蓝田标本下颌支与下颌体垂直,冠状突略向后弯,齿尖起伏较大等都显示了金丝猴的一般性质。至此,本文将蓝田伟猴归于金丝猴属,保留原有种名:Rhinopithecus(Megamacaca)lantianensis(Hu and Qi)。时代为早更新世晚期。     

The earliest fossil schizopterid bug (Insecta: Heteroptera) in the Lower Cretaceous amber of Lebanon

The schizopterid bug Libanohypselosoma popovi n. gen., n. sp. belonging to the subfamily Hypselosomatinae is described from the Lower Cretaceous amber of Lebanon. This fossil is the earliest record of the Schizopteridae. The species is distinguished from its related taxa, a discussion is given.     

PRIMITIVE MIMOSOID FLOWERS FROM THE PALEOCENE-EOCENE AND THEIR SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY IMPLICATIONS

Compressed mimosoid inflorescences from a Paleocene-Eocene boundary locality in western Tennessee are the earliest fossil evidence of the subfamily. The discovery confirms the antiquity of a suite of characters that has been considered primitive based on the comparative morphology of modern mimosoids. The fossil characters are also consistent with the suggested close relationship (ancestral or sister group) between the subfamily Mimosoideae and the Dimorphandra group of the tribe Caesalpinieae (subfamily Caesalpinioideae). These flowers show little change in morphology or size in the basal to Upper Eocene interval.     

RE-ASSESSMENT OF THE TYPE COLLECTIONS OF CORALLINALEAN GENERA (CORALLINALES, RHODOPHYTA) DESCRIBED BY V. P. MASLOV

Abstract:  From 1935 to 1962 Maslov published two monographs and several other papers on the taxonomy of fossil calcareous algae of diverse ages from the large geographical area of the former USSR. Among many other taxa, he described five new genera ( Solenophyllum , Palaeophyllum , Mesolithon , Bicorium and Tomilithon , as a subgenus of Parachaetetes Deninger) which he attributed to the Corallinaceae, and the new genus Karpathia , which he included in the Squamariaceae. Type material of these taxa, except for Mesolithon , is housed in the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Re-examination of the genus types from a modern perspective of coralline algal taxonomy shows that Karpathia is a validly published genus of corallinaceans (subfamily Mastophoroideae) to which several Cenozoic fossil species can be assigned. In contrast, the holotype of P. elegans , the type species of Palaeophyllum , cannot be assigned to any subfamily within the Corallinaceae and its preserved features are inadequate for confidently delimiting a separate genus. Solenophyllum is a valid genus in which Palaeozoic representatives of Corallinales formerly attributed to Parachaetetes Deninger can be included. Tomilithon is considered a younger heterotypic synonym of Solenophyllum . The algal nature of the bioclasts in the type of Bicorium is uncertain.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rovnodiplosis eduardi</Emphasis> gen. et sp. nov., the first record of a fossil gall midge of the supertribe Mycodiplosidi (Diptera,Cecidomyioidea, Cecidomyiidae) in the Late Eocene of the Rovno amber

Higher gall midges of the supertribe Mycodiplosidi, subfamily Cecidomyiinae, are recorded for the first time in Late Eocene Rovno amber. In other fossil resins, Mycodiplosidi have not yet been recorded. A male Rovnodiplosis eduardi gen. et sp. nov. (Mycodiplosidi), with distinctive binodose flagellomeres having long loopy sensilla is described. Species of Cecidomyiinae known from fossil resins are listed.     

The first known fossil record of pipehorses (Teleostei: Syngnathidae: Haliichthyinae) from the Miocene Coprolitic Horizon from the Tunjice Hills,Slovenia

The first known fossil specimens of pipehorses (Haliichthyinae) were unearthed from the Middle Miocene (Sarmatian) beds of the Coprolitic Horizon in the Tunjice Hills, Slovenia. These fossil pipehorses belong to a new genus and species Hippohaliichthys edis, which was similar to the extant species Haliichthys taeniophorus. The body morphology indicates that the described fossil pipehorses were also closely related to the pygmy pipehorse Hippotropiscis frenki and the seahorse Hippocampus sarmaticus, two taxa which were also found in the Coprolitic Horizon. The described fossil material of pipehorses indicates that seahorses evolved from a group of pipehorses that were similar in size and shape to extant and fossil pipehorses of the Haliichthyinae subfamily.     

The Gomphaeschninae (Odonata: Aeshnidae): new fossil genus, reconstructed phylogeny, and geographical history

ABSTRACT. Three new species of fossil Anisoptera (dragonflies) are reported from Tiffanian (Late Palaeocene) sediments of the Paskapoo Formation, near Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. The three species are all assigned to the new genus Alloaeschna , which is classified in the subfamily Gomphaeschninae.
Phylogenetic analysis of gomphaeschnine wing venation suggests that the subfamily is paraphyletic, with derived gomphaeschnines such as Boyeria and Linaeschna more closely related to the Brachytroninae and Aeshninae than are other gomphaeschnines. One of the most primitive gomphaeschnines, and the oldest fossil form, is the Jurassic Morbaeschna. Parallelism, convergence and reversal in the evolution of features of the wing venation is common.
The new genus Alloaeschna is at about the same evolutionary grade as the old-world genus Oligoaeschna and the new-world genus Gomphaeschna , and is one of the more primitive known members of the Gomphaeschninae. The new species are the first recorded Palaeocene gomphaeschnines and the oldest known gomphaeschnines from the Americas.
Several extant genera have fossil representatives on continents different from those on which they now survive, suggesting repeated crossing of land bridges and/or widespread ancestral species prior to the separation of the continents, and subsequent extinction leading to present relict distributions.     

Curved fossil bee cells as tools for reconstructing the evolutionary history and palaeogeographical distribution of Diphaglossinae (Apoidea,Colletidae)

The new ichnospecies Celliforma curvata is described to include curved fossil bee cells from Argentina, Uruguay and the USA. The upper part of the cell (neck) of the new ichnospecies is curved, and accordingly, it can be attributed to bees of the subfamily Diphaglossinae (Colletidae). The oldest record of C. curvata, from the early Eocene of North America (52–49 Ma), provides a minimum age for the appearance of this subfamily, in accordance with an already proposed calibrated phylogeny. It is also proposed that these fossil cells could be used for future calibrations of molecular clocks. C. curvata indicates that Diphaglossinae had a widespread distribution, from southern Utah to extra‐Andean Patagonia at 42°S. In contrast, extant representatives reach only 38°S in this region. Diphaglossinae were more extended southwards in the past thanks to better environmental conditions in extra‐Andean Patagonia.     

An exquisitely preserved harvestman (Arthropoda,Arachnida, Opiliones) from the Middle Jurassic of China

Sclerosomatids constitute the largest family of the arachnid order Opiliones, and one of the two families commonly found in the temperate regions of the northern Hemisphere. Harvestmen have a sparse fossil record in the Mesozoic, with only two species known from the Jurassic, one of them poorly preserved and none with precise phylogenetic placement. Here we report a new fossil, Mesobunus dunlopi sp. nov., from the Middle Jurassic (approx. 165 Mya) of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. The new species is related to another genus of the same formation, but the preservation quality and details of the penis and pedipalps allow us to place them in the extant sclerosomatid subfamilies Gagrellinae or Leiobuninae. The first recognisable fossil in this subfamily highlights morphological stasis over ca. 165 Mya and the finding of this species along with lacustrine insects suggests a life mode similar to that of some modern sclerosomatids, and a possible connection between morphological and ecological stasis.     

新疆玛纳斯古近纪—新的鲤科鱼类

记述了新疆玛纳斯古近纪安集海河组发现的鲤科(Cyprinidae)一新属、种——刘氏天山鱼(Tianshanicus liui gen.et sp.nov.)。新属具有臀鳍分叉鳍条多于7根、体长形稍侧扁、口端位、下咽齿近锥形而齿尖前后略侧扁、背鳍和臀鳍均无硬棘、背鳍起点略在腹鳍起点之后以及尾鳍深分叉等特征,表明它应属于雅罗鱼亚科(Leuciscinae sensu Cavender & Coburn,1992)。然而,它又具有额骨前宽后窄、顶骨长方形、膜质蝶耳骨很大、齿骨冠状突较低、鳃盖骨近长方形等特征而有别于本亚科中其他属。值得注意的是,这些特征却见诸于现生的胭脂鱼类Myxocyprinus中,这将对研究雅罗鱼类的起源很有意义。根据鱼化石和哺乳化石的证据,认为含鱼层的时代为晚始新世。     

Fossil wood Sequoioxylon dimyense sp. nov. (Cupressaceae) from the upper cretaceous of Zeya-Bureya basin, Russian Far East

A new species Sequoioxylon dimyense (Cupressaceae) is described from the Middle Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) deposits of the Zeya-Bureya basin (Russian Far East) based on the fossil wood anatomy. The new species is characterized by combination of anatomical wood characters of the modern representatives of the subfamily Sequoioideae.     

A Middle-Late Eocene inflorescence of Caryophyllaceae from Tasmania, Australia

A new genus and species (Caryophylloflora paleogenica genus and species nova G. J. Jord. & Macphail) are proposed for a fossil inflorescence found in Middle-Late Eocene sediments at Locharbour, northeastern Tasmania, Australia. A parsimony analysis of 75 extant species of the order Caryophyllales and five outgroups placed the fossil within Caryophyllaceae, either subfamily Alsinoideae or Caryophylloideae. The analysis used molecular (rbcL and/or matK), morphological, and anatomical data for the extant species and morphological data for the fossil. Tests on extant species imply that the placement of the fossil should be convincing. The fossil appears to be of a lineage distinct from any extant Australian Caryophyllaceae. In situ pollen are consistent with the form species, Periporopollenites polyoratus. This relatively simple pollen type first appears in Australia and New Zealand in the Late Cretaceous, the oldest known record of the Caryophyllaceae. The last appearance of P. polyoratus in Australia is in the Oligocene, and extant Australian members of the Caryophyllaceae are best interpreted as having evolved from species that dispersed from elsewhere during the Neogene or Quaternary.     

A new genus and species of dryophthorid weevils (Coleoptera,Dryophthoridae: Stromboscerinae) from the Rovno amber

Stenommatomorphus hexarthrus gen. et sp. nov. (Dryophthoridae: Stromboscerinae) is described from the Late Eocene Rovno amber. This is the first fossil representative of the subfamily. The new genus is most close to Synommatus Pascoe, from which it differs in the pronotum and elytra less coarsely sculptured, the intervals not carinate, and the scutellum present.