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Transitional morphology and Afrotropical affinity of a bythinoplectine rove beetle from the early Eocene of India (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae)

Parker, Joseph (2022) Transitional morphology and Afrotropical affinity of a bythinoplectine rove beetle from the early Eocene of India (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae). Palaeoentomology, 5 (5). pp. 452-460. ISSN 2624-2834. doi:10.11646/palaeoentomology.5.5.6. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20221128-494241100.19

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Abstract

Recently discovered Ypresian-age amber from Cambay, India, reveals an ancient arthropod assemblage on the Indian subcontinent during its collision with Asia. Despite the tectonic history of India, limited connections have been found between the Cambay palaeofauna and present-day Madagascan and mainland African faunas. Here, I describe a new fossil pselaphine rove beetle (Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) recovered from the Cambay deposit that shows closest apparent phylogenetic affinity to modern Afrotropical genera. Yprezethinus grimaldii gen. et sp. nov. is placed in Bythinoplectini, subtribe Bythinoplectina. Based on antennal and maxillary palp morphology, Yprezethinus is a putative transitional stem lineage of the Zethinus-group of genera—an extant clade distributed across equatorial African rainforests. Although Yprezethinus shares with this clade the derived feature of ovoid antennal clubs formed by tight appression of the apical two segments, it differs from its putative extant relatives in its possession of the plesiomorphic complement of 11 antennomeres, without any fusions of segments. The fossil taxon signifies a biotic link between early Eocene India and continental Africa, and marks the Cenozoic emergence of a tropical leaf litter arthropod fauna approaching that of contemporary, ant-dominated rainforests.


Item Type:Article
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.5.5.6DOIArticle
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Parker, Joseph0000-0001-9598-2454
Additional Information:I thank David Grimaldi (American Museum of Natural History, New York) for making the holotype of Yprezethinus grimaldii available for study, and for encouragement and guidance during my forays into palaeoentomology. I’m grateful to Marc De Meyer (Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren) for a loan of Zethinus-group material, and to the late Georges Coulon for valuable discussions about Bythinoplectini. This work was supported by a US National Science Foundation CAREER award (2047472).
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
NSFIOS-2047472
Issue or Number:5
DOI:10.11646/palaeoentomology.5.5.6
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20221128-494241100.19
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20221128-494241100.19
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:118061
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Research Services Depository
Deposited On:11 Dec 2022 20:59
Last Modified:13 Dec 2022 17:46

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