The semi-aquatic pondweed bugs of a Cretaceous swamp
Pondweed bugs (Hemiptera: Mesoveliidae), considered a sister group to all other Gerromorpha, are exceedingly rare as fossils. Therefore, each new discovery of a fossil mesoveliid is of high interest, giving new insight into their early evolutionary history and diversity and enabling the testing of t...
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| Format: | Article |
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PeerJ Inc.
2017-09-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/3760.pdf |
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| author | Alba Sánchez-García André Nel Antonio Arillo Mónica M. Solórzano Kraemer |
| author_facet | Alba Sánchez-García André Nel Antonio Arillo Mónica M. Solórzano Kraemer |
| author_sort | Alba Sánchez-García |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pondweed bugs (Hemiptera: Mesoveliidae), considered a sister group to all other Gerromorpha, are exceedingly rare as fossils. Therefore, each new discovery of a fossil mesoveliid is of high interest, giving new insight into their early evolutionary history and diversity and enabling the testing of their proposed relationships. Here, we report the discovery of new mesoveliid material from Spanish Lower Cretaceous (Albian) amber, which is the first such find in Spanish amber. To date, fossil records of this family only include one species from French Kimmeridgian as compression fossils, two species in French amber (Albian-Cenomanian boundary), and one in Dominican amber (Miocene). The discovery of two males and one female described and figured as Glaesivelia pulcherrima Sánchez-García & Solórzano Kraemer gen. et sp. n., and a single female described and figured as Iberovelia quisquilia Sánchez-García & Nel, gen. et sp. n., reveals novel combinations of traits related to some genera currently in the subfamily Mesoveliinae. Brief comments about challenges facing the study of fossil mesoveliids are provided, showing the necessity for a revision of the existing phylogenetic hypotheses. Some of the specimens were studied using infrared microscopy, a promising alternative to the systematic study of organisms preserved in amber that cannot be clearly visualised. The new taxa significantly expand the fossil record of the family and shed new light on its palaeoecology. The fossils indicate that Mesoveliidae were certainly diverse by the Cretaceous and that numerous tiny cryptic species living in humid terrestrial to marginal aquatic habitats remain to be discovered. Furthermore, the finding of several specimens as syninclusions suggests aggregative behaviour, thereby representing the earliest documented evidence of such ethology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:45:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-90f8a5e097704309ae9155caaf6ee13e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:45:27Z |
| publishDate | 2017-09-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-90f8a5e097704309ae9155caaf6ee13e2023-12-03T10:36:26ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592017-09-015e376010.7717/peerj.3760The semi-aquatic pondweed bugs of a Cretaceous swampAlba Sánchez-García0André Nel1Antonio Arillo2Mónica M. Solórzano Kraemer3Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l’Oceà and Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, SpainInstitut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, Museum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, FranceDepartamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, SpainPaläontologie und Historische Geologie, Sektion Paläozoologie I, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, GermanyPondweed bugs (Hemiptera: Mesoveliidae), considered a sister group to all other Gerromorpha, are exceedingly rare as fossils. Therefore, each new discovery of a fossil mesoveliid is of high interest, giving new insight into their early evolutionary history and diversity and enabling the testing of their proposed relationships. Here, we report the discovery of new mesoveliid material from Spanish Lower Cretaceous (Albian) amber, which is the first such find in Spanish amber. To date, fossil records of this family only include one species from French Kimmeridgian as compression fossils, two species in French amber (Albian-Cenomanian boundary), and one in Dominican amber (Miocene). The discovery of two males and one female described and figured as Glaesivelia pulcherrima Sánchez-García & Solórzano Kraemer gen. et sp. n., and a single female described and figured as Iberovelia quisquilia Sánchez-García & Nel, gen. et sp. n., reveals novel combinations of traits related to some genera currently in the subfamily Mesoveliinae. Brief comments about challenges facing the study of fossil mesoveliids are provided, showing the necessity for a revision of the existing phylogenetic hypotheses. Some of the specimens were studied using infrared microscopy, a promising alternative to the systematic study of organisms preserved in amber that cannot be clearly visualised. The new taxa significantly expand the fossil record of the family and shed new light on its palaeoecology. The fossils indicate that Mesoveliidae were certainly diverse by the Cretaceous and that numerous tiny cryptic species living in humid terrestrial to marginal aquatic habitats remain to be discovered. Furthermore, the finding of several specimens as syninclusions suggests aggregative behaviour, thereby representing the earliest documented evidence of such ethology.https://peerj.com/articles/3760.pdfHeteropteraInfrared microscopyLitter amberPaleoecologyPaleoethologySpain |
| spellingShingle | Alba Sánchez-García André Nel Antonio Arillo Mónica M. Solórzano Kraemer The semi-aquatic pondweed bugs of a Cretaceous swamp PeerJ Heteroptera Infrared microscopy Litter amber Paleoecology Paleoethology Spain |
| title | The semi-aquatic pondweed bugs of a Cretaceous swamp |
| title_full | The semi-aquatic pondweed bugs of a Cretaceous swamp |
| title_fullStr | The semi-aquatic pondweed bugs of a Cretaceous swamp |
| title_full_unstemmed | The semi-aquatic pondweed bugs of a Cretaceous swamp |
| title_short | The semi-aquatic pondweed bugs of a Cretaceous swamp |
| title_sort | semi aquatic pondweed bugs of a cretaceous swamp |
| topic | Heteroptera Infrared microscopy Litter amber Paleoecology Paleoethology Spain |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/3760.pdf |
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