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Chinese Cretaceous larva exposes a southern Californian living fossil (Insecta, Coleoptera, Eucnemidae)
Author(s) -
Huali Chang,
Muona Jyrki,
Hanyong Pu,
Li Xu,
Chen Wang,
Teräväinen Marianna,
Dong Ren,
Qiang Yang,
Xingliao Zhang,
Songhai Jia
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
cladistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.323
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1096-0031
pISSN - 0748-3007
DOI - 10.1111/cla.12124
Subject(s) - biology , yixian formation , larva , cretaceous , ecology , zoology , paleontology , mesozoic , structural basin
Palaeoxenus sinensis Chang, Muona & Teräväinen sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Eucnemidae) is described on the basis of a Cretaceous larva found from the Yixian Formation in Huangbanjigou, Liaoning Province, China. The only previously known member of this clade is a southern Californian endemic, Dohrn's elegant eucnemid beetle ( Palaeoxenus dohrni ), a species that develops in conifers, especially the incense cedar ( Calocedrus decurrens ). The new find proves that the highly specialized main eucnemid lineages had evolved 123 Mya, before the main radiation of the angiosperms and probably as an adaptation to development in gymnosperms.