Chinese Cretaceous larva exposes a southern Californian living fossil (Insecta,Coleoptera, Eucnemidae) |
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| Authors: | Chang Huali Jyrki Muona Pu Hanyong Xu Li Wang Chen Marianna Teräväinen Ren Dong Yang Qiang Zhang Xingliao Jia Songhai |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Henan Geological Museum, Zhengdong New District, Zhengzhou, China;2. Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;3. College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China;4. Geoscience Museum, Shijiazhuang University of Economics, Shijiazhuang, China;5. Department of Land Resources of Henan Province, Zhengdong New District, Zhengzhou, China |
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| Abstract: | Palaeoxenus sinensis Chang, Muona & Teräväinen sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Eucnemidae) is described on the basis of a Cretaceous larva found from the Yixian Formation in Huangbanjigou, Liaoning Province, China. The only previously known member of this clade is a southern Californian endemic, Dohrn's elegant eucnemid beetle (Palaeoxenus dohrni), a species that develops in conifers, especially the incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens). The new find proves that the highly specialized main eucnemid lineages had evolved 123 Mya, before the main radiation of the angiosperms and probably as an adaptation to development in gymnosperms. |
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