Past ecosystems drive the evolution of the early diverged Symphyta (Hymenoptera: Xyelidae) since the earliest Eocene
<p><i>Paleoxyela nearctica</i> gen. et sp. nov., is described from the upper Eocene of Florissant Formation in Colorado. We placed <i>Paleoxyela</i> gen. nov. in the subfamily Macroxyelinae and the tribe Macroxyelini based on the numerous wing venation characters visibl...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pensoft Publishers
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Fossil Record |
| Online Access: | https://fr.copernicus.org/articles/24/379/2021/fr-24-379-2021.pdf |
| Summary: | <p><i>Paleoxyela nearctica</i> gen. et sp. nov., is described from the upper Eocene of
Florissant Formation in Colorado. We placed <i>Paleoxyela</i> gen. nov. in the subfamily
Macroxyelinae and the tribe Macroxyelini based on the numerous wing venation
characters visible on the specimen. <i>Proxyelia pankowskii</i> gen. et sp. nov. is described from the
lower Eocene Fossil Lake deposits of the Green River Formation in Wyoming.
We placed <i>Proxyelia</i> gen. nov. in the subfamily Macroxyelinae and the tribe Xyeleciini
based on the numerous wing venation characters visible on the specimen.
These new records of the family Xyelidae are of particular importance to
better understand the past diversity of the clade and propose hypotheses
about their diversification. Extant Xyelidae inhabit temperate Northern
Hemisphere forests, and most of their larvae feed on conifers, which may
explain why they are relatively poorly diversified compared to the other
symphytan families. We suggest that the global decline in conifers and the
reduced diversity of extant host trees partly explain the diversity of
extant Xyelidae. We correlate the biome repartition during the Eocene to
that of the extant xyelid.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 2193-0066 2193-0074 |