Chunxiania fania: a new genus and species of mole cricket (Orthoptera: Ensifera: Gryllotalpidae) from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber

Abstract

As an ancient lineage among ensiferans, the family Gryllotalpidae has been underreported with limited fossil record. Herein, a new mole cricket, Chunxiania fania gen. et sp. nov., is described on the basis of an exquisitely-preserved specimen from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. It can be attributed to the family Gryllotalpidae (Orthoptera: Ensifera) based on distinct fossorial forelegs with sturdy femur and inflated tibia, protibia with tympana, and dactyls processes. However, it cannot be incorporated into any existing subfamily or genus of Gryllotalpidae mainly due to protibia with three movable dactyls and a very small, non-articulated denticular process, mesotibia with five apical spurs, and nearly triangular subgenital plate which is slightly curved upwards. This new finding shows novel morphological diversity in fossil Gryllotalpidae, providing insight to the early evolution of the fossorial adaption and palaeoecology of mole crickets.