First Occurrence and Paleo-Ecological Implications of Insects (Orthoptera: Ensifera Gryllidae) in the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation, Eo-Cretaceous of the Araripe Basin.

Luís C.B Freitas,Geraldo J.B De Moura,Antônio A.F Saraiva

doi:10.1590/0001-3765201620150375

Abstract

The Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation, a lithostatigraphic unit attributed to a marine intrusion, is famous for its preserved fossils in calcareous concretions, which stand out for their diversity and excellent preservation levels. This paper aims to record the first occurrence of the Class Insecta in the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation of the Araripe Basin, as well as to describe and discuss the paleo-ecological implications of such finding. The first occurrence of the order Orthoptera (family Gryllidae) is presented for this unit. This new species is attributed to the genus Araripegryllus, that lasted throughout the deposition of the Crato Member, which is under the Romualdo Member. In reference to its statigraphic origin, the specimens was named Araripegryllus romualdoi sp. nov.

Highlights

The Romualdo Member, the upper unit in the Santana Formation, stands out for the quality and tridimensional preservation of its fossils in calcareous concretions, belonging to different taxonomic groups, such as Gymnosperms and Angiosperms leaves and trunks (Saraiva et al 2003, Lima et al 2012); Gastropods (Beurlen 1964); Crustaceans (Martins Neto 1987 and Pinheiro et al 2013); Conchostracans (Carvalho and Viana 1993); Ostracods (Carmo et al 2004)LUÍS C.B
In view of the foregoing, this paper aims to record the first occurrence of the Class Insecta in the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation of the Araripe Basin, as well as to describe and discuss the paleo-ecological implications of such finding
The morphological features shown by the specimen MPSC 1846p allow us to identify it as a new species and classify it within the family Gryllidae; genus Araripegryllus

Summary

Introduction

The Romualdo Member, the upper unit in the Santana Formation, stands out for the quality and tridimensional preservation of its fossils in calcareous concretions, belonging to different taxonomic groups, such as Gymnosperms and Angiosperms leaves and trunks (Saraiva et al 2003, Lima et al 2012); Gastropods (Beurlen 1964); Crustaceans (Martins Neto 1987 and Pinheiro et al 2013); Conchostracans (Carvalho and Viana 1993); Ostracods (Carmo et al 2004)LUÍS C.B. The Romualdo Member, the upper unit in the Santana Formation, stands out for the quality and tridimensional preservation of its fossils in calcareous concretions, belonging to different taxonomic groups, such as Gymnosperms and Angiosperms leaves and trunks (Saraiva et al 2003, Lima et al 2012); Gastropods (Beurlen 1964); Crustaceans (Martins Neto 1987 and Pinheiro et al 2013); Conchostracans (Carvalho and Viana 1993); Ostracods (Carmo et al 2004). Orthopteran constitutes the most diverse group of Polyneoptera, containing around 22.5 thousand species (both extant and fossils) (Grimaldi and Engel 2005, Heads and Martins Neto 2007). Until 2005, 61 orthopteran fossil species (Ensifera + Caelifera + Phasmatoptera) had been described for Brazil (22% of the Brazilian paleoentomofauna), all for the Crato Member of the Santana Formation (Martins Neto 2005). No other Ensifera specimen has been described for the Santana Formation

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion