Abstract
The taxa Cubicostissus palaeocaeni gen. et sp. nov. are described from the Paleocene of Menat (Central France) as the oldest representative of the family Issidae for which all currently known fossils are reviewed. With a unique combination of characters, the specimen represents the first fossil described for the tribe Hysteropterini. Its occurrence in the European Paleocene shows that its lineage, and therefore the Issidae, were already present at least some 60 Ma. It allows to discard the hypothesis of an Eocene origin for the family, which is in accordance with a recent molecular calibration of the family, reporting the tribe as old as the Upper Cretaceous.
Highlights
Records of fossil Issidae Spinola, 1839 are rare, making their recognition and knowledge important landmarks in the understanding of the evolution of the family and essential for the calibration of a molecular phylogeny of the family
The entomofauna of the Paleocene volcano-sedimentary maar of Menat (Puy-de-Dôme, France) is very diverse and rich in insect fossils (Wedmann et al 2018), only a few planthoppers have been described in Cixiidae (Szwedo et al 2006) and in Lophopidae (Stroiński & Szwedo 2012), but no Issidae have yet been documented
Issid fossils remain rare, as only four of them have been described to date and with an unequivocal placement among the Issidae
Summary
Records of fossil Issidae Spinola, 1839 are rare, making their recognition and knowledge important landmarks in the understanding of the evolution of the family and essential for the calibration of a molecular phylogeny of the family. The oldest issid fossil is reported from Canadian amber 78–79 Ma (Skidmore 1999 in McKellar et al 2008). It was collected in southern Alberta, Canada and K.G.A. It was collected in southern Alberta, Canada and K.G.A Hamilton determined it as a possible issid nymph # 1121, Canadian amber inclusions in the Canadian National Collection of Insects). This identification remains doubtful, needs to be confirmed and will not be considered in this paper.
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