© 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 |
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.