Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T20:02:22.819Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Mesozoic family Archizelmiridae (Diptera: Insecta)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

David Grimaldi
Affiliation:
Division of Invertebrates, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th St., New York, New York 10024-5192, ,
Dalton De Souza Amorim
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes 3900, 14.040-901 Ribeirão Preto SP, Brazil,
Vladimir Blagoderov
Affiliation:
Division of Invertebrates, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th St., New York, New York 10024-5192, ,

Abstract

A nematocerous fly family known previously only from one species and specimen from the Upper Jurassic of Karatau, Kazakhstan, Archizelmiridae is expanded here to include additional records preserved as compression fossils and ones in amber. The compressions are from the Upper Jurassic of Shar-Teg, Mongolia and Lower Cretaceous of Baissa, Transbaikal, with a new species, Archizelmira baissa, from Baissa. Particularly significant are three finely preserved new species and genera in ambers from the Cretaceous Period: Zelmiarcha lebanensis (Lebanon: Lower Aptian), Archimelzira americana (New Jersey: Turonian), and Burmazelmira aristica (Burma [Myanmar]: mid-Cretaceous). The latter two species interestingly possess stylate antennae, those of Burmazelmira being the only aristate antennae in the order Diptera outside the suborder Brachycera. A cladogram is presented for the relationships among archizelmirid species, cladistic rank of which correlates with stratigraphic age. Transformation series of the antennal flagellum in Archizelmiridae corresponds with one recently hypothesized for the Brachycera, wherein the style and arista are derived from the apical flagellomere(s). The family appears to be a member of the extant group Sciaroidea, which includes fungus gnats and gall midges, though precise relationships remain unclear.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amorim, D. S. 1993 [1992]. A phylogenetic analysis of the basal groups of Bibionomorpha, with a critical reanalysis of the wing vein homology. Revista brasiliensis Biologia, 52(2):379399.Google Scholar
Azar, D. 2000. Les Ambres Mésozoïques du Liban. Doctoral dissertation, Université de Paris-Sud.Google Scholar
Grimaldi, D. 1996. Amber: Window to the Past. Abrams/American Museum of Natural History, New York, 216 p.Google Scholar
Grimaldi, D. (ed.). 2000. Studies on Fossils in Amber, with Particular Reference to the Cretaceous of New Jersey. Backhuys, Leiden, 498 p.Google Scholar
Grimaldi, D., Engel, M. S., and Nascimbene, P. 2002. Fossiliferous Cretaceous amber from Burma (Myanmar): its rediscovery, biotic diversity, and paleontological significance. American Museum Novitates 3361, 71 p.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grimaldi, D., Wampler, T. W., and Shedrinsky, A. M. 2000. A remarkable deposit of fossiliferous amber from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) of New Jersey, p. 176. In Grimaldi, D. (ed.), Studies on Fossils in Amber, with Particular Reference to the Cretaceous of New Jersey. Backhuys, Leiden, 498 p.Google Scholar
Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturae, tenth edition. Stockholm: Laurentii Salvii.Google Scholar
Matile, L. 1990. Recherches sur la systématique et l'evolution des Keroplatidae (Diptera, Mycetophiloidea). Mémoires Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 148:1682.Google Scholar
McAlpine, J. F. 1981. Morphology and terminology—adults, chapter 2, p. 963. In Manual of Nearctic Diptera, Volume 1. Research Branch Agriculture Canada Monograph 27, Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services.Google Scholar
Nascimbene, P., and Silverstein, H. 2000. The preparation of fragile Cretaceous ambers for conservation and study of organismal inclusions, p. 93102. In Grimaldi, D. (ed.), Studies on Fossils in Amber, with Particular Reference to the Cretaceous of New Jersey. Backhuys, Leiden, 498 p.Google Scholar
Rasnitsyn, A. P., and Ross, A. J. 2000. A preliminary list of arthropod families present in the Burmese amber collection at The Natural History Museum, London, p. 2125. In The History, Geology, Age and Fauna (Mainly Insects) of Burmese Amber, Myanmar. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, London (Geology), 56.Google Scholar
Rohdendorf, B. B. 1962/1991. Order Diptera, p. 444502. In Rohdendorf, B. B. (ed.), Fundamentals of Paleontology, Volume 9, Arthropoda, Tracheata, Chelicerata, 1991 English translation. Smithsonian Institution Libraries and National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C., 894 p.Google Scholar
Stuckenberg, B. R. 1999. Antennal evolution in the Brachycera (Diptera), with a reassessment of terminology relating to the flagellum. Studia Dipterologica, 6:3348.Google Scholar
Zherikhin, V. V., and Ross, A. S. 2000. A review of the history, geology, and age of Burmese amber (Burmite), p. 310. In The History, Geology, Age and Fauna (Mainly Insects) of Burmese Amber, Myanmar. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, London (Geology), 56.Google Scholar