Abstract
Simple SummaryLophocateridae are a small family of Cleroidea and their taxonomic rank has changed several times. The fossil record of Lophocateridae from Mesozoic deposits is sparse. Here, we figure and describe a new lophocaterid fossil, Gracilenticrus burmiticus, from the mid-Cretaceous amber of Myanmar. The new taxa broaden the generic and species diversity of lophocaterids and provide additional information for understanding the early evolution of Cleroidea.A new genus and species of the cleroid family Lophocateridae are described and illustrated from the mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar. Gracilenticrus burmiticus Yu, Kolibáč & Ślipiński gen. et sp. nov. is unique among Lophocateridae in the tiny body size, frontoclypeal suture and antennal grooves absent, symmetrical antennal clubs, protrochantin reduced, tarsal claws small and widened at base. A key to the species of Mesozoic Lophocateridae is also provided. Morphological characters of the newly discovered Gracilenticrus were analyzed together with representatives of 43 extant genera of Cleroidea (broadly defined Trogossitidae) in a matrix of 91 characters. Gracilenticrus burmiticus was resolved as a member of Lophocateridae. The discovery of a diverse fauna of Lophocateridae in the mid-Cretaceous sheds a new light on the early evolution of superfamily Cleroidea.
Highlights
The generic name is a combination of the latinized adjective “gracilentus”
Previous studies have shown that morphological information alone is not sufficient to solve the phylogeny of traditional trogossitid taxa [1,31]
The newly discovered fossil, Gracilenticrus burmiticus, was nested within a clade comprising Peltis, Calitys and traditional Lophocaterinae. This clade contains all of the modern Lophocateridae defined by Gimmel et al [1] except for Colydiopeltis and Parapeltis
Summary
The family Lophocateridae are a small cosmopolitan family of cleroid beetles, comprising approximately 120 extant species in about 17 genera [1,2,3]. This group was assigned as a subfamily or tribe of Trogossitidae in previous studies [4,5,6,7,8,9]. The traditional broadly defined Trogossitidae are widely presumed to be paraphyly or polyphyletic by many molecular analyses [10,11,12,13,14,15], and the placement of this group is ambiguous.
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