Middle Jurassic Of Inner Mongolia Research Articles

New Euthemistid Damsel–Dragonfly from the Middle Jurassic of Northern China (Odonata, Isophlebioidea, Euthemistidae)

A new genus and new species of the euthemistid, Kidaneuthemis ningchengensis gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. It can be assigned to the Euthemistidae by the several long intercalary veins between RP1 and IR1, IR1 and RP2, as well as between RP2 and IR2 and between IR2 and RP3/4. Kidaneuthemis ningchengensis gen. et sp. nov. distinguishes from the other two genera of this family by the presence of not less than eight intercalary veins between MP and wing margin; about three rows of cells in the distal part between MA and MP; the base of IR2 is two cells distal to that of RP3/4. In addition, a revision of the family Euthemistidae has been proposed.

A new campterophlebiid damsel-dragonfly (Odonata: Isophlebioidea) from the Middle Jurassic Yanan Formation of Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, NW China

The family Campterophlebiidae Handlirsch, 1920 is the dominant Jurassic clade of Odonata Fabricius, 1793, especially hosting a high diversification in northern China. The Chinese campterophlebiid damsel-dragonflies were mainly recovered from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, northern China. In the present study, a new campterophlebiid, Parasinitsia qingyunensis n. gen., n. sp., is described from the early Middle Jurassic Yanan Formation of the Ordos Basin, NW China. Parasinitsia n. gen. resembles the genus Sinitsia Pritykina, 2006 recorded from the Upper Jurassic of eastern Transbaikalia, but differs from the latter in having two or three rows of cells between RA and RP1 distal of the pterostigma, IR2 and RP3/4 with at least four rows of cells near the wing margin, and CuAa with about 15 rows of cells between it and the posterior wing margin in the broadest area. The new damsel-dragonfly comes from a new early Middle Jurassic insect site from the Ordos Basin, providing new clues to understand the terrestrial ecosystems during this epoch.

New fossil records of Xyelidae (Hymenoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China – Corrigendum

The present corrigendum corrects errors that occurred in: Zheng Y., Hu H., Chen D., Chen J., Zhang H. & Rasnitsyn A.P. 2021. New fossil records of Xyelidae (Hymenoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. European Journal of Taxonomy 733: 146–159. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2021.733.1229

Application of neutron tomography in studying new material of Ixostrobus Raciborski from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

Cone‐producing gymnosperms are important elements of the Mesozoic floras. Studying their cone organizations can potentially help us understand the evolutionary trends of seed plants through time and the origin of angiosperms. In this paper, we present a new and an undetermined species of Ixostrobus Raciborski, a fossil genus representing male cones of the Czekanowskiales from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou locality in Inner Mongolia, China. The holotype specimen of the new species was studied using the neutron tomography (NT) technique. The cone shows higher neutron attenuation than the surrounding matrix. To detect the different organic compounds, a volume rendering of tomographic reconstruction with false colour spectrum of relative neutron attenuation is presented. The highest concentration of organic material is in the axis and some parts of the sacs, the rest of the cone has lower concentration, and the surrounding matrix has the lowest concentration. It seems that the remnant organic materials are regularly differentiated in different parts of the cone probably because of the preservation and different taphonomic process of different type of cells. In addition to revealing more detailed morphological features of the cone by NT reconstruction, the application of NT is potentially important for detecting remnant organic materials preserved in fossil plants.

New fossil records of Xyelidae (Hymenoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

A new genus and two new species of Xyelidae Newman, 1834 (Hymenoptera Linnaeus, 1758), Platyxyela tenuis sp. nov. and Scleroxyela daohugouensis gen. et sp. nov. are described and illustrated from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Beds of Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia, China. Platyxyela tenuis sp. nov. (Xyelinae Newman, 1834, Liadoxyelini Rasnitsyn, 1966) can be distinguished from its congeners by short forewing length and ovipositor sheath strongly narrowed toward acute apex. Scleroxyela daohugouensis gen. et sp. nov. is placed within Macroxyelinae Ashmead, 1898, Xyeleciini Benson, 1945 based on pterositigma completely sclerotised and costal space sclerotised before ptrostigma, 1-Rs half as long as 1-M, and 1m-cu short. It is the first recorded species of Xyeleciini in Daohugou Beds. Furthermore, an updated key of identification of subfamilies and tribes of Xyelidae is provided. Our findings of new morphological data provide insights into the early evolution of Hymenoptera, as well as effectively enrich our understanding of the diversity of Xyelidae in the Mesozoic.
 
 A correction has been published: Zheng Y., Hu H., Chen D., Chen J., Zhang H. & Rasnitsyn A.P. 2023. New fossil records of Xyelidae (Hymenoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China – Corrigendum. European Journal of Taxonomy 860: 181–182. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2023.860.2059

A new genus of lance lacewings from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

A new genus of lance lacewings from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

A new genus of giant lacewing (Insecta, Neuroptera, Ithonidae) from the Middle Jurassic of China.

A new genus and species of Ithonidae, Puripolystoechotes pumilus gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. The new genus is distinguished by possessing a hind wing with a simple humeral vein, only three ra-rp crossveins, M forked slightly distal to origin of RP1, and wing membrane without color pattern. This is the third ithonid genus from this locality, showing interesting morphological similarity with the other ithonids from the same locality and period.

Zhangwuia: an enigmatic organ with a bennettitalean appearance and enclosed ovules

ABSTRACTThe feature distinguishing typical angiosperms from gymnosperms is that their ovules are enclosed before pollination. Bennettitales were formerly related to angiosperms because of the flower-like organisation of the former's reproductive organs. There is little information on how the naked ovules of Bennettitales became enclosed in angiosperms because fossil evidence for such a transition, if it exists, has not been described. Here, we report a reproductive organ,Zhangwuiagen. nov., from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. Like many Bennettitales, the arrangement of the foliar parts around the female part inZhangwuiademonstrates a resemblance to typical angiosperm flowers. It is noteworthy that the ovule is secluded from the exterior space inZhangwuia, therefore implying the existence of angio-ovuly. Although Bennettitales have been related to angiosperms for more than a hundred years, their way of ovule-enclosing was not previously revealed. The discovery ofZhangwuiaprompts a rethinking of the relationship between Bennettitales and angiosperms, as well as of the origin of angiosperms.

First record of Sphenarion (Czekanowskiales) with epidermal structures from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

The genus Sphenarion (Czekanowskiales) was first established for some fossil leaves from the Middle Jurassic Yorkshire flora of England. There are relatively few reports of Sphenarion with epidermal structures in the Mesozoic floras of Eurasia since its establishment. In this paper we describe a new species, Sphenarion angustae n. sp., from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation near Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China. This is the first record of the genus Sphenarion (Czekanowskiales) from the Daohugou Biota and from China based upon the gross leaf morphology and the epidermal structures. The new species has 7–8 persistent, linear leaves clustered on a short shoot. The amphistomatic leaves, with distinctive stomatal and nonstomatal zones on both upper and lower epidermis are simple or mostly fork once. The new species provides new morphological and epidermal data and extends stratigraphic and geographic distribution of Sphenarion in Eurasia. Meanwhile, the new discovery is significant in understanding the floral composition, paleoclimate, and paleoenviroment of the Daohugou Biota. Analysis of the cuticular structures presented here and preliminary examination of other associated plant groups suggest that the new species grew in an area with a seasonal warm and humid climate in a warm-temperate zone.

Yuhania: a unique angiosperm from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

Despite increasing claims of pre-Cretaceous angiosperms, whether there really are angiosperms in the Jurassic is apparently still an open question for many people before further evidence is available. This question can only be answered by studying more Jurassic plant fossils. Here we report a fossil angiosperm, Yuhania daohugouensis gen. et sp. nov, from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. The plant includes connected stem, leaves, flowers, aggregate fruits, fruitlets, and seeds within fruitlets. The leaves are helically arranged along the curving stem, linear in shape, with 5–6 parallel veins. The aggregate fruit is pedicellate, composed of over 20 carpels/fruitlets helically arranged. Each fruitlet encloses a seed. The reproductive organs in various stages are found in the same plant, allowing us to understand the development of Yuhania. The occurrence of Yuhania in the Middle Jurassic re-confirms the Jurassic history for angiosperms that has been suggested by other independent research and adds to the on-going study on the early evolution of angiosperms.

Earliest true moth lacewing from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

A new moth lacewing Guithone bethouxi gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation (Inner Mongolia, China). This taxon is characterized by robust body, head retracted under pronotum, and remarkable costal space (expanded basad, narrowed distad). Herein, we propose a detailed definition of the lineages of Ithonidae sensu lato (moth lacewings, giant lacewings, and montane lacewings) based on extant groups in order to clarify the systematics of fossil species within the taxon. The comparison shows that Guithone bethouxi gen. et sp. nov. unquestionably represents the earliest true moth lacewing, implying that lineage differentiations within Ithonidae sensu lato must have taken place before the Middle Jurassic. Furthermore the new genus possessing some particular venation characters, such as irrecurrent humeral veinlet and simplified crossveination in radial sector, represents an important intermediate group in the evolution of Ithonidae sensu lato.

Revision and two new species of Itaphlebia (Nannochoristidae: Mecoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

Cao, Y., Shih, C., Bashkuev, A. & Ren, D., September 2015. Revision and two new species of Itaphlebia (Nannochoristidae: Mecoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. Alcheringa 40, XX–XX. ISSN 0311-5518.Two new species of Itaphlebia Sukatsheva, 1985, Itaphlebia longiovata and I. amoena (Nannochoristidae Tillyard, 1917), are described and illustrated from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. Previously described Middle Jurassic nannochoristid genera, Chrysopanorpa Ren in Ren et al., 1995 and Protochoristella Sun, Ren & Shih, 2007b, together with Stylopanorpodes and Netropanorpodes Sun, Ren & Shih, 2007a (originally assigned to Mesopanorpodidae) are revised and considered to be synonyms of Itaphlebia. The following tentative species synonymies are proposed: Protochoristella formosa and Stylopanorpodes eurypterus = Itaphlebia ruderalis (Ren in Ren et al., 1995), comb. nov.; Netropanorpodes sentosus = I. jeniseica Novokshonov, 1997a, syn. nov.; and Protochoristella polyneura = I. multa Novokshonov, 1997a, syn. nov. Netropanorpodes decorosus is transferred to Itaphlebia. These new species, new material and the new combinations broaden the diversity of the Itaphlebia in mid-Mesozoic ecosystems and provide new characters enabling amendment of the generic diagnosis.YiZi Cao [easycaoyinzi@aliyun.com], ChungKun Shih [chungkun.shih@gmail.com] and Dong Ren [rendong@mail.cnu.edu.cn], College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Xisanhuanbeilu 105, Haidian District, Beijing, PR China 100048; Alexei Bashkuev [fossilmec@gmail.com], Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya st. 123, Moscow 117997, Russia.

Two new species of Paramesosciophilodes (Diptera, Nematocera, Mesosciophilidae) from the Middle Jurassic of China.

Two new species, Paramesosciophilodes bellus sp. n. and Paramesosciophilodes rarissima sp. n., from the Jiulongshan Formation at Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China, are described in the extinct family Mesosciophilidae. Altogether seven genera with 21 species of mesosciophilids have been described from the Jurassic of Siberia and Kazakhstan, the Lower Cretaceous of Transbaikalia, and the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia. An emended generic diagnosis of Paramesosciophilodes and a list of known taxa of mesosciophilids are provided.

A New Species of Phoenicopsis Subgenus Windwardia (Florin) Samylina (Czekanowskiales) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

AbstractA new species of Phoenicopsis subgenus Windwardia (Florin) Samylina, Phoenicopsis neimengguensis sp.nov., is recognized from the Middle Jurassic Zhaogou Formation in the Shiguai Basin, a Jurassic coal‐bearing sedimentary basin in Inner Mongolia, China. Linear leaves are in bundles of six to eight and are attached on a short shoot. The leaf is amphistomatic with one or two irregular rows of longitudinally oriented stomata in each intercostal zone on the upper epidermis and three or four (occasionally six) rows of stomata in each intercostal zone on the lower epidermis. Each stomata is surrounded by four to six subsidiary cells with unevenly developed papillae. The anticlinal walls of epidermal cells are straight. Cuticular thickenings or papillae are present on the outer surface of the periclinal walls. This is the first time that Phoenicopsis subgenus Windwardia (Florin) Samylina is recognized from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. The occurrence of the new species is noteworthy because it extends the geological and geographic distribution of Phoenicopsis subg. Windwardia in China and Eurasia. The discovery is significant as it increases our knowledge of Phoenicopsis subg. Windwardia by providing new data on morphological and epidermal features.

Chorilingia (Neuroptera: Grammolingiidae): a new genus of lacewings with four species from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

SHI, C.F., WANG, Y.J., YANG, Q. & REN, D., September 2012. Chorilingia (Neuroptera: Grammolingiidae): a new genus of lacewings with four species from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. Alcheringa 36, 311–320. ISSN 0311-5518. A new grammolingiid genus, Chorilingia containing four new species (C. euryptera, C. parvica, C. translucida and C. peregrina) is described and illustrated from the Jiulongshan Formation at Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. The new genus is differentiated mainly on the first branch of vein Rs (Rs1) separating distal to the forks of both CuA and CuP. A key to species of the genus is provided.

Early evolution and historical biogeography of fishflies (Megaloptera: Chauliodinae): implications from a phylogeny combining fossil and extant taxa.

Fishflies (Corydalidae: Chauliodinae) are one of the main groups of the basal holometabolous insect order Megaloptera, with ca. 130 species distributed worldwide. A number of genera from the Southern Hemisphere show remarkably disjunctive distributions and are considered to be the austral remnants or “living fossils” of Gondwana. Hitherto, the evolutionary history of fishflies remains largely unexplored due to limited fossil record and incomplete knowledge of phylogenetic relationships. Here we describe two significant fossil species of fishflies, namely Eochauliodes striolatus gen. et sp. nov. and Jurochauliodes ponomarenkoi Wang & Zhang, 2010 (original designation for fossil larvae only), from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. These fossils represent the earliest fishfly adults. Furthermore, we reconstruct the first phylogenetic hypothesis including all fossil and extant genera worldwide. Three main clades within Chauliodinae are recognized, i.e. the Dysmicohermes clade, the Protochauliodes clade, and the Archichauliodes clade. The phylogenetic and dispersal-vicariance (DIVA) analyses suggest Pangaean origin and global distribution of fishflies before the Middle Jurassic. The generic diversification of fishflies might have happened before the initial split of Pangaea, while some Gondwanan-originated clades were likely to be affected by the sequential breakup of Pangaea. The modern fauna of Asian fishflies were probably derived from their Gondwanan ancestor but not the direct descendents of the Mesozoic genera in Asia.

A new fossil eomeropid (Insecta, Mecoptera) from the Jiulongshan Formation, Inner Mongolia, China

A new genus and species of eomeropid, Jurathauma simplex n. gen., n. sp., is described from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. It can be distinguished from all known eomeropid genera by a combination of these characters: two rows of cells formed by crossveins between costal margin and ScP; RP MA with five branches; MP with five branches; and three anal veins. The presence of this new species and Tsuchingothauma shihi Ren & Shih, 2005 of the same family in this locality suggests the early diversification of eomeropids with cockroach-like body during the Middle Jurassic.

A New Genus and Species of Damsel‐Dragonfly (Odonata: Isophlebioidea: Campterophlebiidae) in the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

Abstract:The campterophlebiid new genus and species Ctenogampsophlebia reni is described from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. It shows close similarities with the Lower to Middle Jurassic genera Gampsophlebia, and Petrophlebia, with closed and short subdiscoidal cells, confirming the attribution of these two other genera to the Campterophlebiidae.

Czekanowskia from the Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

The genus Czekanowskia is an important member of the Mesozoic flora and is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere. In China, it is found mostly in Late Triassic and Early and Middle Jurassic sediments of North China. With the exception of a few specimens, all the reports of this genus from China have been based on gross leaf morphology. Abundant Czekanowskia leaves, preserved as compression fossils, were collected from the Middle Jurassic, Zhaogou Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. In this article, two subgenera of Czekanowskia, Harrisella and Vachrameevia, are recognized from Inner Mongolia, China, on the basis of leaf morphology and epidermal characters. Two new species, Czekanowskia chinensis sp. nov. (subg. Harrisella) and Czekanowskia shiguaiensis sp. nov. (subg. Vachrameevia), are described. The occurrence of these species in the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia significantly extends the stratigraphic and geographic distribution of Czekanowskia in the Northern Hemisphere. Analysis of the epidermal ...

A new fossil genus of Mesosciophilidae (Diptera, Nematocera) with two new species from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

A new genus within the family Mesosciophilidae, Jurasciophila gen. nov., with two new species, J. curvula gen. et sp. nov. and J. lepida gen. et sp. nov., are described and illustrated. They are established based on fossil specimens with bodies and complete wings. All of them were collected from the late Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou in southeastern Inner Mongolia, China. Comparing with two known genera, Mesosciophilina (Kovalev, 1985) and Mesosciophilopsis (Blagoderov, 1994), the new genus has transitional characters. The distribution pattern of Mesosciophilidae is briefly discussed.