Early Jurassic orthopteran insects from the southern Junggar Basin, NW China, with discussion of biodiversity changes of Orthoptera across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary

Abstract

Abstract Orthoptera constitutes an important ecological component of the global fauna, but the order's Early Jurassic record is limited in China and its evolution is poorly understood after the end-Triassic mass extinction. Several orthopterans are described herein from the Lower Jurassic Badaowan and Sangonghe formations of the southern Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, NW China. From the Badaowan Formation, a new species, Parahagla cheni sp. nov., is established and assigned to Chifengiinae (Hagloidea: Prophalangopsidae), which represents the oldest record of this subfamily. From the Sangonghe Formation, a forewing fragment is attributed to Sinagryllus xinjiangensis Wang et al. , 2019 (Grylloidea: Baissogryllidae); another forewing fragment and a metathoracic leg without attribution are also described. The discovery of these fossils increases the biodiversity of Orthoptera in the Early Jurassic, and further indicates that orthopterans probably flourished in the Junggar area during the Early Jurassic. An analysis of orthopteran biodiversity at generic and species levels reveals an extinction in Orthoptera in the Late Triassic, especially for the superfamilies Hagloidea and Oedischioidea, which suffered a substantial extinction. This extinction occurred in the Late Triassic, earlier than the mass extinction of marine animals at the end of the Triassic.