Reconciling past and present: Mesozoic fossil record and a new phylogeny of the family Cerophytidae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea)

Abstract

The Mesozoic fossil record of the family Cerophytidae is critically reviewed. The fossil data is combined with the characters of the recent representatives of Cerophytidae to build a new phylogenetic hypothesis of their relationships. Twenty-three in-group taxa and three out-groups were included in a maximum parsimony cladistic analysis based on 32 adult characters. The resulting tree confirms the family Cerophytidae as a monophylum with two weakly supported clades, segregating most of the extinct Mesozoic and extant genera into separate clades. The new concept of the family Cerophytidae is presented to reconcile characters of the Mesozoic and recent taxa, without recognition of Aphytocerinae Kirejtshuk, 2013. Lebanophytum Kirejtshuk and Azar (=Lebanophytidae Kirejtshuk in Kirejtshuk and Azar, 2013), originally placed in Cerophytidae, is removed from Elateroidea and placed in the cucujoid family Cryptophagidae. The family Lebanophytidae Kirejtshuk in Kirejtshuk and Azar, 2013, based on this genus, becomes a junior synonym of Cryptophagidae Kirby, 1826 (syn. nov.). The two species Praelaterium problematicum Dolin, 1973 and Elaterocoleus oculatus Dolin, 1973, originally included in the family Praelateriidae Dolin, are moved to the family Cerophytidae, and Praelateriidae Dolin, 1973 is regarded as a junior synonym of Cerophytidae Latreille, 1834 (syn. nov.). Jurassophytum cleidecostae Yu, Ślipiński and Pang gen. et sp. nov. from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou beds (Inner Mongolia, northeastern China), and Amberophytum birmanicum Yu, Ślipiński and Pang gen. et sp. nov., Necromeropsis minutus Yu, Ślipiński and Pang gen. et sp. nov., Brachycerophytum cretaceum Yu, Ślipiński and Pang sp. nov. and Cerophytum albertalleni Yu, Ślipiński and Pang sp. nov. from the Upper Cretaceous amber deposits of Myanmar are described and illustrated.