A Mesozoic species ofAnotylus(Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Oxytelinae) from Liaoning, China, with the earliest evidence of sexual dimorphism in rove beetles

Abstract

A new species of the staphylinid subfamily Oxytelinae is described and figured from a series of well-preserved compression fossils of the Yixian Formation (Early Cretaceous), Beipiao City, Liaoning Province, northeastern China. The species is placed in the recent genusAnotylusThomson, 1859 based on typical morphological features for the genus as well as secondary sexual characters. The strong projection of the anterior pronotal angles is a feature also possessed by males of several recent Neotropical taxa in the genus. This is the earliest fossil rove beetle with clearly demonstrable sexual dimorphism.