缅甸白垩纪中期细腰亚目昆虫化石

琥珀是植物树脂经漫长的地质演变形成的化石,对研究中-新生代陆地生物的系统发育和生物学具有无可比拟的意义。近年来,产自白垩纪中期缅甸的琥珀尤其珍贵,其中包括众多精美的细腰亚目(膜翅目)昆虫标本。简要介绍缅甸琥珀的地质背景,详细阐述缅甸琥珀细腰亚目代表性类群冠蜂科(Stephanidae)、缅甸冠蜂科(Myanmarommatidae)、姬蜂科(Ichneumonidae)、长腹细蜂科(Pelecinidae)、旗腹蜂科(Evaniidae)和举腹蜂科(Aulacidae)的最新研究进展。     

膜翅目广腰亚目化石的研究简史与现状(昆虫纲)

详细回顾和综述了世界膜翅目广腰亚目昆虫化石研究简史,列出已发表的化石种类名录、分布及年代,说明了不同地质时期主要广腰亚目化石的分类单元以及分布特点.简要介绍了广腰亚目化石昆虫发展趋势及广腰亚目昆虫群落特征.初步分析了目前该类群所存在的一些问题,并对今后的研究工作进行了展望.     

缅甸北部克钦琥珀中的蜻蜓目化石

近五年,缅甸北部白垩纪中期克钦琥珀中相继发现了数百枚蜻蜓目化石,包含现生蜻蜓目三个亚目类群,目前已发表16科29属35种,在所有已知琥珀记录中数量和多样性最高。克钦琥珀中的蜻蜓目以均翅亚目(豆娘)为主,以Burmahemiphlebia zhangi最为常见,不少现生豆娘的化石记录也首次在克钦琥珀中发现,包括Perilestidae,Platycnemididae和Platystictidae等。此外,克钦琥珀中发现了一些中生代沉积岩中常见的蜻蜓目类群,如Araripegomphidae, Gomphaeschnidae和Stenophlebiidae等,指示克钦琥珀的时代可能为早白垩世晚期。这些发现为探讨蜻蜓目部分类群的起源、演化和揭示生物古地理提供了有力证据。     

白垩纪甲虫研究揭示其生物系统分类学的转变(鞘翅目: 原鞘亚目)

文中首次报道了缅甸琥珀中的长扁甲Mallecupes qingqingae Jarzembowski, Wang and Zheng, 2017的阳茎化石, 并讨论了该器官的古昆虫学和现生昆虫学意义。甲虫在现生生物中的多样性最高, 而它们的生殖器则在甲虫系统分类中的应用已经超过百年历史。这些小而精美的器官通常很难保存在化石里, 但文中特异保存在中生代琥珀中的生殖器则为原鞘亚目甲虫的分类学研究提供了新的启示。     

白垩纪甲虫研究揭示其生物系统分类学的转变(鞘翅目:原鞘亚目)（英文）

文中首次报道了缅甸琥珀中的长扁甲Mallecupes qingqingae Jarzembowski, Wang and Zheng, 2017的阳茎化石,并讨论了该器官的古昆虫学和现生昆虫学意义。甲虫在现生生物中的多样性最高,而它们的生殖器则在甲虫系统分类中的应用已经超过百年历史。这些小而精美的器官通常很难保存在化石里,但文中特异保存在中生代琥珀中的生殖器则为原鞘亚目甲虫的分类学研究提供了新的启示。     

中侏罗世魔蜂科一新属——Sinephialtites在中国的发现

魔蜂科(Ephialtitidae)被认为是昆虫纲膜翅目细腰亚目(Insecta,Hymenoptera,Apocrita)无腹柄的原始类群,无可置疑地属于寄生蜂类,寄主是早期的粉蠹类(Lyctidae)和树蜂类(Siricidae)的幼虫。据苏联科学院古生物研究所膜翅目学者(1975)研究认为,细腰亚目的其他类群皆是魔蜂类进化形成的,广腰亚目的卡拉达蜂科(Symphata,Karatavitidae)是魔蜂科的祖先。因此,搞清楚这个科的特征、     

世界各地琥珀中的脊椎动物包裹体

琥珀是一种经过石化作用形成的天然树脂化石,亦是一种有机宝石。琥珀在全球范围分布较广,尤其在欧洲的波罗的海、中美洲的多米尼加-墨西哥、亚洲的缅甸等区域有着大量的发现。全球各地琥珀中,昆虫包裹体最为常见,脊椎动物包裹体数量较少。但相对保存于沉积岩中的传统脊椎动物化石来说,保存于琥珀中的脊椎动物包裹体可以额外提供生物体的软组织、原始死亡状态、生存环境等信息,且可以保存比传统骨骼化石更直观、立体、精细的生物形态学信息,为研究生物演化、恢复古环境、古生态和古行为学等方面提供了重要的依据。文中主要总结了来自全球各琥珀产区迄今为止发现的各种脊椎动物包裹体,包括了非鸟恐龙、鸟类、哺乳类、爬行类、两栖类等,以及它们背后隐藏的演化信息,并对未来的研究方向与趋势做了初步的展望。     

白垩纪中期缅甸琥珀昆虫行为生态学研究进展

缅甸琥珀生物群产自距今约98.8Ma的白垩纪中期,该生物群是世界上物种多样性很高的琥珀生物群之一,为了解白垩纪中期生物多样性和古生态提供了重要窗口。文中以近年来缅甸琥珀地层学、琥珀生物学研究为依据,总结缅甸琥珀形成环境,并对缅甸琥珀揭示的昆虫与植物的协同演化、昆虫的捕食、社会性证据、寄生、求偶和结构色等方面的研究结果进行总结,以期较全面地综述缅甸琥珀的古环境和昆虫行为生态学特征。     

缅甸克钦琥珀白垩纪石蝇(襀翅目: 襀科)新属种记述

文中简述了襀翅目缅甸琥珀研究概况,并基于一件保存较好的雌虫标本,报道了襀翅目襀科新属种Burperla decolorata gen. et sp. nov.。该化石具有以下重要特征:体较长,体色浅,触须与触角较长, RP脉末端接近翅端部,下殖板宽大、圆形,后缘中部突出。这些形态特征显著区别于襀科的其它化石及现生类群。     

膜翅目旗腹蜂总科昆虫化石研究进展

旗腹蜂总科是膜翅目在侏罗纪大辐射时出现的一个重要类群,延续至今既包含灭绝的化石类群,又具有丰富的现生类群.综述了旗腹蜂总科昆虫化石的研究进展,统计了世界已记载的旗腹蜂总科化石名录、地理分布及地质年代,梳理了旗腹蜂总科化石目前的主要研究成果,并对未来研究进行展望.     

FOSSIL OONOPID SPIDERS IN CRETACEOUS AMBERS FROM CANADA AND MYANMAR

Abstract:  The spider family Oonopidae is described from Cretaceous ambers from Myanmar and Canada for the first time. Orchestina albertenis sp. nov. is the first spider to be described from Canadian Grassy Lake amber and only the second spider to be described from Canadian amber. The specimen in amber from Myanmar extends the known range of the extant genus Orchestina back another 10 million years from the previously oldest specimen in Turonian New Jersey amber. Despite being unknown as sedimentary fossils, Oonopidae occur in more fossil deposits than any other spider family and were already widespread by the Cretaceous. The family contains the oldest example of an extant spider genus along with Archaeidae, also from Burmese amber.     

Electraesalopsis beuteli gen.& sp.nov., the first lucanid beetle from the Cretaceous Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea)

The first stag beetle found in Cretaceous Myanmar amber,Electraesalopsis beuteli Bai,Zhang & Qiu gen.& sp.nov.,is described and illustrated on the basis of one well-preserved specimen.This specimen provides more detailed morphological characters compared with compression fossils,e.g.the highly setose antennae and the punctured elytra.However,the systematic position of the new genus is still questionable and we provisionally place it as Lucanidae incertae sedis.In addition,the discovery ofElectraesalopsis Bai,Zhang & Qiu gen.nov.also indicates that there is very high biodiversity in Burmese amber.The new discoveries in future studies on Burmese amber will provide more information and improve our knowledge of biogeography and early evolution of the Lucanidae.     

Burmese amber: evidence of Gondwanan origin and Cretaceous dispersion

Abstract

Burmese amber is an extremely important source of mid-Cretaceous plant and animal remains with over 870 species of organisms, ranging from protozoa to vertebrates, described from this source. The amber mines are located on the West Burma Block that according to geologists was originally part of Gondwana. The present study introduces some angiosperms and insects in Burmese amber whose closest extant relatives have a Gondwanan distribution and there is no previous evidence of a Laurasian distribution. Based on this evidence, it is proposed that organisms in Burmese amber represent a selection of tropical to subtropical life forms that inhabited the interconnected continents of Gondwana in the Early Cretaceous. Based on the fossil record of angiosperms and their diversity in Burmese amber, the West Burma Block could not have rafted from Gondwana to SE Asia before the Early Cretaceous.     

First identifiable Mesozoic harvestman (Opiliones: Dyspnoi) from Cretaceous Burmese amber

Two inclusions in a piece of Upper Cretaceous (Albian) Burmese amber from Myanmar are described as a harvestman (Arachnida: Opiliones), Halitherses grimaldii new genus and species. The first Mesozoic harvestman to be named can be referred to the suborder Dyspnoi for the following reasons: prosoma divided into two regions, the posterior formed by the fusion of the meso- and metapeltidium; palp lacking a terminal claw, with clavate setae, and tarsus considerably shorter than the tibia. The bilobed, anteriorly projecting ocular tubercle is reminiscent of that of ortholasmatine nemastomatids. The status of other Mesozoic fossils referred to Opiliones is briefly reviewed.     

Brachyceran Diptera (Insecta) in Cretaceous ambers, Part IV, Significant New Orthorrhaphous Taxa

Thirteen species of basal Brachycera (11 described as new) are reported, belonging to nine families and three infraorders. They are preserved in amber from the Early Cretaceous (Neocomian) of Lebanon, Albian of northern Spain, upper Albian to lower Cenomanian of northern Myanmar, and Late Cretaceous of New Jersey USA (Turonian) and Alberta, Canada (Campanian). Taxa are as follows, with significance as noted: In Stratiomyomorpha: Stratiomyidae (Cretaceogaster pygmaeus Teskey [2 new specimens in Canadian amber], Lysistrata emerita Grimaldi & Arillo, gen. et sp. n. [stem-group species of the family in Spanish amber]), and Xylomyidae (Cretoxyla azari Grimaldi & Cumming, gen. et sp. n. [in Lebanese amber], and an undescribed species from Spain). In Tabanomorpha: Tabanidae (Cratotabanus newjerseyensis Grimaldi, sp. n., in New Jersey amber). In Muscomorpha: Acroceridae (Schlingeromyia minuta Grimaldi & Hauser, gen. et sp. n. and Burmacyrtus rusmithi Grimaldi & Hauser gen. etsp. n., in Burmese amber, the only definitive species of the family from the Cretaceous); Mythicomyiidae (Microburmyia analvena Grimaldi & Cumming gen. et sp. n. and Microburmyia veanalvena Grimaldi & Cumming, sp. n., stem-group species of the family, both in Burmese amber); Apsilocephalidae or near (therevoid family-group) (Kumaromyia burmitica Grimaldi & Hauser, gen. et sp. n. [in Burmese amber]); Apystomyiidae (Hilarimorphites burmanica Grimaldi & Cumming, sp. n. [in Burmese amber], whose closest relatives are from the Late Jurassic of Kazachstan, the Late Cretaceous of New Jersey, and Recent of California). Lastly, two species belonging to families incertae sedis, both in Burmese amber: Tethepomyiidae (Tethepomyia zigrasi Grimaldi & Arillo sp. n., the aculeate oviscapt of which indicates this family was probably parasitoidal and related to Eremochaetidae); and unplaced to family is Myanmyia asteiformia Grimaldi, gen. et sp. n., a minute fly with highly reduced venation. These new taxa significantly expand the Mesozoic fossil record of rare and phylogenetically significant taxa of lower Brachycera.     

First and oldest Leptochirini rove beetles illuminate diverse cephalic structures in the Cretaceous (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Osoriinae)

Osoriinae is a highly diverse, globally distributed subfamily of rove beetles (Staphylinidae), but only a single Mesozoic species, Mesallotrochus longiantennatus Cai & Huang, in mid‐Cretaceous Burmese amber is known (age c. 99 Ma). Leptochirini, which is primarily found in decaying wood in the tropics, is one of the four tribes of osoriine rove beetles. The diversity of cephalic tooth shapes in adults has attracted special research attention with regard to the evolution and classification of this group. Here, we report two well‐preserved fossils of Leptochirini for the first time from Burmese amber. Together with M. longiantennatus, they represent the oldest osoriines, highlighting the palaeodiversity of the subfamily in Burmese amber. Based on our observations and phylogenetic analyses, a remarkable new genus and species, ?Cretochirus newtoni Yamamoto gen. et sp.n. , is described. Additionally, a new species, ?Priochirus thayerae Yamamoto sp.n. , is also described and placed in the extant genus Priochirus Sharp. ?Cretochirus gen.n. has a typical body plan of Leptochirini, but it retains several primitive features that have rarely, or never, been known from modern leptochirine taxa, including simple cephalic structures with a largely depressed dorsum, undeveloped cephalic teeth, and the absence of a longitudinal median sulcus of the head, together with the only slightly crenulate external margins of the protibiae. These findings demonstrate the antiquity of Leptochirini rove beetles and even suggest a much older origin of the subfamily. Morphologically diverse leptochirines from Burmese amber also illuminate the remarkable cephalic diversity of the tribe during the Mesozoic. They were already diversified during the mid‐Cretaceous in the tropical forests of Myanmar, and possibly living underneath the bark of rotten wood and logs. This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:CC5E81E8‐5621‐44A6‐A247‐A776B14A9191 .     

Early evolution of Cupedidae revealed by a mid‐Cretaceous reticulated beetle from Myanmar (Coleoptera: Archostemata)

Cupedidae, the most species‐rich family of the archaic suborder Archostemata, were abundant, diverse and widespread in the Mesozoic, yet little is known about the early evolution and biogeography. This stems, in part, from a lack of exceptionally preserved fossils from the Mesozoic and of formal phylogenetic study of both extant and extinct taxa. Here we describe and illustrate a new fossil from mid‐Cretaceous Burmese amber, and provide a phylogeny combining both fossils and all known extant genera of Archostemata. A dataset of 43 ingroup taxa and four outgroup taxa based on 110 morphological characters was analysed under parsimony. The results indicate that Priacma LeConte and Paracupes Kolbe, as well as the Cretaceous genera Barbaticupes Jarzembowski et al. and Mallecupes Jarzembowski et al., together form a sister clade to the rest of Cupedidae. Priacma megapuncta sp.n. is attributed to the relict North American Priacma by the presence of distinct subtruncate elytral apices, lateral elytral margins with two rows of sharp teeth, and peculiar fixing epipleural folds near the elytral apices. Our discovery of the first fossil species of Priacma in Burmese amber reveals the antiquity and wider distribution of the genus in the late Mesozoic. This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:313565C2‐4F42‐48BD‐8720‐F379DE202868 .     

A new scorpion fossil from the Cretaceous amber of Myanmar (Burma). New phylogenetic implications

A fossil scorpion belonging to a new family, genus and species, Chaerilobuthus complexus gen. n., sp. n., is described from Cretaceous amber of Myanmar (Burma). This is the third species and the fourth scorpion specimen to have been found and described from Burmese amber. The new family seems quite distinct from the family Archaeobuthidae Lourenço, 2001 described from Cretaceous amber of Lebanon.     

白垩纪中期缅甸琥珀中陆生腹足类化石的新发现

腹足类化石在地层中丰富且常见,但在琥珀中保存较少。文中描述了产自白垩纪中期缅甸琥珀中的陆生腹足类化石2属2种:Euthema naggsi Yu, Wang and Pan, 2018, Truncatellina dilatatus sp. nov.。这些陆生腹足类新材料的发现,提高了缅甸琥珀中陆生腹足类物种多样性,并进一步印证了白垩纪中期缅甸琥珀森林温暖潮湿的热带雨林环境。     

The first cupedine beetle from Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Cupedidae)

A rare archaic beetle, Mallecupes qingqingae gen. et sp. n., (Insecta: Coleoptera: Archostemata: Cupedidae) is described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. It shows affinity with Paracupes found in South America today and ‘Paracupes’ found in North America during the Cretaceous. Archostemata are diverse in Burmese amber.