中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所机构知识库

Protopselaphinae is a small rove beetle subfamily endemic to southeast Asia with only eight extant species placed into a single genus. Here we describe and illustrate the first fossil representative of Protopselaphinae, Protopselaphus thayerae sp. nov., from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Albian-Cenomanian). The new species is distinguished from all extant taxa of Protopselaphus by having tarsomeres 1 and 2 not subequal in length and mentumwith a shallow emargination. The new fossils provide evidence of an ancient origin of Protopselaphinae, a 'missing link' between the megadiverse Pselaphinae and other subfamilies in the Omaliine group. Protopselaphus thayerae sp. nov. is a testament to an extreme morphological and probably also ecological stasis in Protopselaphinae over the last 99 million years. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.