Aenigmaraphidophora mouniri gen. et sp. nov., an enigmatic representative of the ensiferan infraorder Tettigoniidea, is described and figured from the Lower Cretaceous of Lebanon, based on a nearly complete male specimen. The new fossil could fit in either in the stem group of the Rhaphidophoridae or in the Tettigoniidae. In either cases, the disco...
Published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Ptiliidae is a group of distinctly miniaturized staphylinoid beetles with a scarce fossil record. Here, we report a new ptiliid genus and species, Crenossidium slipinskii Li, Newton and Cai gen. et sp. nov., from mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. Crenossidium can be attributed to the subfamily Nossidiinae based on the hind wing morphology...
Published in BMC Biology
Background In egg-laying amniotes, the developing embryo is tethered to a number of the extraembryonic membranes including the yolk sac and allantois that deliver oxygen and nutrients and remove metabolic waste products throughout embryonic development. Prior to, or soon after hatching, these membranes detach from the animal leaving a temporary or ...
Elasmobranchii are relatively well-studied. However, numerous phylogenetic uncertainties about their relationships remain. Here, we revisit the phylogenetic evidence based on a detailed morphological re-evaluation of all the major extant batomorph clades (skates and rays), including several holomorphic fossil taxa from the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and ...
Published in Swiss Journal of Palaeontology
The impact of increasing atmospheric CO2 and the resulting decreasing pH of seawater are in the focus of current environmental research. These factors cause problems for marine calcifiers such as reduced calcification rates and the dissolution of calcareous skeletons. While the impact on recent organisms is well established, little is known about l...
Published in eLife
Fossils shed light on mating strategies in scorpionflies. © 2022, Lin and Ren.
Published in Geologos
Phetchabun National Geopark comprises varied geosites; one of the fluvial bedrock landforms distinguished here is Loei Dun. This shows many potholes in Mesozoic sandstone of the Nam Phong Formation (Khorat Group). A genetic study of the occurrence of the Loei Dun potholes lends it a higher geoheritage value. For the present study we did fieldwork a...
A synthesis of our current knowledge of erymoid lobsters is presented. The superfamily Erymoidea includes two families, Erymidae Van Straelen, 1925 and Enoploclytiidae Devillez, Charbonnier & Barriel, 2019, together encompassing 81 species within six genera. Our examination of the palaeobiodiversity of this group and its evolution has revealed some...
Published in Zootaxa
A new species, namely Doratomantispa pouilloni sp. nov., of the mantidfly subfamily Doratomantispinae, is described and illustrated from a complete individual preserved in mid-Cretaceous amber from Tanai, northern Myanmar. Doratomantispa pouilloni sp. nov. preserves nearly all the diagnostic characters of this subfamily, but differs from the two ot...
Jacobsoniidae is a species-poor family of minute polyphagan beetles distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. Both extant representatives of the family as well as fossils are rare. Here we describe a new fossil species, Derolathrus capdoliensis n. sp., from latest Albian-earliest Cenomanian Charentese amber from the Cadeuil deposit, Charente...
