New fossil evidence of the early diversification of bees: Paleohabropoda oudardi from the French Paleocene (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Anthophorini)

Abstract

Phylogenetic relationships among and within the major groups of bees (Apoidea Apiformes) were recently reconsidered using extensive molecular and morphological datasets. The next step in the study of bee evolution will consist in estimating the antiquity of the nodes within the inferred topologies. We describe here the third oldest bee fossil, Paleohabropoda oudardi gen. n. sp. N. (Apidae, Apinae, Anthophorini) from the Paleocene of Menat (France, Puy‐de‐Dôme; 60 Myr). Phylogenetic analysis of 17 morphological characters and morphometric analysis of the wing shape were used to recover, respectively, its taxonomic position and morphological affinities. Our results indicate that Paleohabropoda oudardi gen. n. sp. n. clearly belongs to the Anthophorini. Paleohabropoda is therefore the oldest fossil that can be confidently date and place to an extant tribe. Its wing shape is surprisingly close to the extant genus Habropoda. The discovery of Paleohabropoda oudardi gen. n., sp. n. brings further evidence for the Cretaceous diversification of major lineages of bees and for strong constancy of wing shape within the Anthophorini.