An enigmatic Cretaceous beetle with possible affinity to Erotylidae (Coleoptera: Cucujiformia)

Yan-Da Li; Zhen-Hua Liu; Di-Ying Huang; Chen-Yang Cai

doi:10.1016/j.cris.2024.100075

An enigmatic Cretaceous beetle with possible affinity to Erotylidae (Coleoptera: Cucujiformia)

Curr Res Insect Sci. 2024 Feb 6:5:100075. doi: 10.1016/j.cris.2024.100075. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Yan-Da Li^{1

2}, Zhen-Hua Liu³, Di-Ying Huang¹, Chen-Yang Cai¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
² Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, United Kingdom.
³ Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Institute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510260, China.

Abstract

The morphology of beetles of the recently defined superfamilies Erotyloidea, Nitiduloidea and Cucujoidea is varied. Determining the systematic positions of Mesozoic fossils within these groups can often be challenging. Here we describe and illustrate a puzzling cucujiform beetle, Isocryptophilus exilipunctus Li & Cai gen. & sp. nov., based on an individual from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. While we cannot definitively pinpoint the exact phylogenetic position of Isocryptophilus, its possible affinity to Erotylidae is discussed in light of our phylogenetic analyses. A broader-sampled morphological matrix, coupled with a robust molecular phylogeny of these groups, will be promising for clarifying the systematic placement of the fossil.

Keywords: Burmese amber; Cucujiformia; Fossil; Parsimony; Phylogenetic analysis.