Fossil Record 24(1): 141-149, doi: 10.5194/fr-24-141-2021
A new enigmatic lineage of Dascillidae (Coleoptera: Elateriformia) from Eocene Baltic amber described using X-ray microtomography, with notes on Karumiinae morphology and classification
expand article infoRobin Kundrata‡, Matthew L. Gimmel§, Gabriela Packova|, Andris Bukejs, Stephan M. Blank#
‡ Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic§ Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93105-2998, United States of America| Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Palacky University, 17. listopadu 50, Olomouc, 77146, Czech Republic¶ Institute of Life Sciences and Technologies, Daugavpils University, Vienības 13, Daugavpils, 5401, Latvia# Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, Eberswalder Strasse 90, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
© Robin Kundrata, Matthew L. Gimmel, Gabriela Packova, Andris Bukejs, Stephan M. Blank.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Kundrata R, Gimmel ML, Packova G, Bukejs A, Blank SM (2021) A new enigmatic lineage of Dascillidae (Coleoptera: Elateriformia) from Eocene Baltic amber described using X-ray microtomography, with notes on Karumiinae morphology and classification. Fossil Record 24(1): 141-149. https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-141-2021
Open Access
Abstract

Dascillidae are a species-poor beetle group with a scarcefossil record. Here, we describe Baltodascillus serraticornis gen. et sp. nov. based on a well-preservedspecimen from Eocene Baltic amber. It differs from all known Dascillidae byits reduced mandibles. After studying the specimen using light microscopyand X-ray microtomography, we tentatively place this genus in the poorlydefined subfamily Karumiinae based on the large eyes, serrate antennae, andlack of prosternal process. This is the first representative of theDascillidae formally described from Baltic amber and the first describedfossil member of the subfamily Karumiinae. We briefly discuss theproblematic higher classification of Dascillidae, along with the morphologyand biogeography of the group.