Bo Wang

Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology

Acoustic communication has played a key role in the evolution of a wide variety of vertebrates and insects. However, the reconstruction of ancient acoustic signals is challenging due to the extreme rarity of fossilized organs. Here, we report the earliest tympanal ears and sound-producing system (stridulatory apparatus) found in exceptionally prese...

The Yanliao Biota contains numerous exceptionally preserved fossils of evolutionary importance. However, the palaeoenvironment of this biota has not been fully studied. Here we present the first taphonomic and palaeoecological analysis of fossil abundance data from two newly excavated sites in the Daohugou area. In our study we have investigated th...

Baissogryllidae is an extinct family of the insect superfamily Grylloidea, previously known from Late Jurassic – Early Cretaceous time. A new genus and species, Sinagryllus xinjiangensis gen. et sp. nov., is described here based on a well-preserved forewing from the Lower Jurassic Sangonghe Formation of Xinjiang, northwestern China. It can be attri...

Mayflies are very rare in the British fossil record. The first nymph to be found, Schistonotorum wallisi gen. et sp. nov., is described from the non-marine Lower Cretaceous of southeast England. This Early Barremian find is from the Upper Weald Clay Formation at Smokejacks brickworks, Surrey. It is preserved as an adpression in concretionary sideri...

The palaeoecology of Spinicaudata, the dominant group of benthic invertebrates in many pre-Cenozoic freshwater environments, remains poorly understood. In analogy with extant taxa, it has been oversimplified and often reduced to shallow, temporary environments characterized by few trophic levels, implying ecological stasis from the Devonian to the...

We describe two caddisflies from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, with unusual hair fan modifications on the legs: Cretaganonema dongi nov. gen. et nov. sp. (Calamoceratidae) possesses greatly elongated hind legs with hair-tufts at the tarsal apex; Cretahelicopsyche liuyani nov. gen. et nov. sp. (Helicopsychidae) bears a hair-fan on the tibia of the m...

Two new species, Ilerdocossus dissidens sp. nov., and Miracossus gongi sp. nov., and 10 new specimens assigned to known species of Palaeontinidae are described and discussed. All these specimens were collected from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Inner Mongolia and western Liaoning. I. dissidens sp. nov., is different from other species of...

A new tettigarctid, Hpanraais problematicus gen. et sp. nov. is described based on a forewing from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. This new genus and species significantly differs from other fossil and extant tettigarctids in the details of tegmen venation. The fossil represents an enigmatic and very peculiar Tettigarctidae known from mid-Cretaceous...

Two new species of butterfly bug, Valdicossus mikewebsteri sp. nov. and Ilerdocossus prowsei sp. nov. are described from the Lower Cretaceous of southern England. Valdicossus mikewebsteri is the first complete hindwing of a palaeontinid from the UK. It is different from the type species in having a hindwing with a different colour pattern, vein Sc...

A new genus and three new species of Anisopodidae are described from the Cretaceous Burmese amber: Cretolbia hukawnga gen. et sp. nov., Cretolbia burmitica gen. et sp. nov., Cretolbia zhuodei gen. et sp. nov. Analyses of the morphological structures and taxonomical differences among representatives within the Anisopodidae have been carried out. A m...

A new family of tenebrionid beetle (Coleoptera: Polyphaga: Tenebrionoidea) is described based on two genera from Burmese amber (lower Cenomanian, ca. 99 Ma). The new family is undoubtedly attributed to Tenebrionoidea by the retractile wedge-shaped body and tarsal formula 5-5-4. It shares some similarities with Mordellidae such as, a convex head and...

Mordellidae (Coleoptera: Polyphaga) includes approximately 2400 worldwide extant species and are commonly known as tumbling flower beetles. The group contains only a few fossil records. For a long time, the fossil subfamily Praemordellinae has been regarded as the primitive group of family Mordellidae. Now it is raised to family rank and named Prae...

While fossils of honey bees (Apini: Apis Linnaeus) are comparatively abundant in European Oligocene and Miocene deposits, the available material from Asia is scant and represented by only a handful of localities. It is therefore significant to report a new deposit with a fossil honey bee from southern China. Apis (Synapis) dalica Engel & Wappler, s...

A new water-penny beetle, Succinumanax birmaniasis gen. et sp. nov., is described based on two well-preserved larvae from mid- Cretaceous Burmese amber. They represent the oldest fossil record of Psephenidae, and show a high similarity in morphology with fossils from the Eocene ftessel pit, Germany. The new phylogenetic analysis demonstrates that S...

Only a few families have been recognized in the 320 million year history of cockroaches. The 31st one, represented by monotypic Ol xiai sp. n. from the Myanmar amber is described here. It inhabited lowland forest near the shore. It possesses several unique morphological features including bipectinate antennae, round terminal palpomeres, sophisticat...

The first brochocolein beetle is described from Burmese amber, Brochocoleus caseyi sp. nov., (Insecta: Coleoptera: Archostemata). It is also the first brochocolein in amber to be described from the fossil record; the beetle’s distinctive morphology includes an elongate head combined with a squat body form. Two additional brochocolein species in Bur...

Behavior of extinct organisms can be inferred only indirectly, but occasionally rare fossils document particular behaviors directly. Brood care, a remarkable behavior promoting the survival of the next generation, has evolved independently numerous times among animals including insects. However, fossil evidence of such a complex behavior is excepti...

The first malacostracan crustacean is described and named from the English Wealden, Cymothoidana websteri gen. et sp. nov., a Cirolana-like, cymothoidan isopod. The problem of homoplastic convergence in somatic characters is discussed, and Cymothoidana is treated as a collective group (morphotaxon) under the International Code of Zoological Nomencl...

Two new monotypic genera of the family Lasiosynidae, Microsyne gen. nov. and Crassisyne gen. nov., are described from two Early Cretaceous localities: Baisa (Eastern Siberia, Zaza Formation) and Sharyn-Gol (Mongolia, Sharyn-Gol Formation): Peculiar morphological features of different lasiosynid genera and general trends of their morphological evolu...

A new schizophorid beetle, Sinoschizala darani n. gen. n. sp. (Insecta: Coleoptera), is described from the Middle Jurassic volcano-sedimentary siliciclastics of the Daohugou Konservat-Lagerstätte (Inner Mongolia). Our knowledge of the allied aquatic archostematans is summarized with a particular reference to China. The unusual orientation (outsprea...

A new family of planthoppers Fulgoromorpha from the Lower Jurassic of southern China is described to comprise Qiyangiricania cesta Lin, 1986. The new family differs in venation pattern from the other Jurassic representatives of Fulgoroidea, presenting particular model of tegmen venation, not found among extinct and recent planthoppers. The Mesozoic...

Trichomyia duckhousei, a new species belonging to Psychodidae Trichomyiinae, is characterized and described based on a well-preserved specimen from the lower Eocene Fushun amber of China. It shares some similarities with Trichomyia of Group B, but has some features present in the fossil record but not in Recent taxa, such as non-eccentric flagellom...

Tegulicicada plana Lin, 1986 from the Lower Jurassic of South China, is transferred to the genus Karabasia as Karabasia plana (Lin, 1986) comb. nov. and is re-described as the first Peloridioidea from China. This discovery extends the distribution of Karabasiidae from the warm temperate zone (Central Asia, Siberia and Mongolia) to the subtropical a...

Two new genera and four new species of Aesalini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Lucanidae: Aesalinae) are described from the Mesozoic of Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. Juraesalus atavus gen. et sp. nov. from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou is amongst the oldest records of Scarabaeoidea. Sinaesalus longipes gen. et sp. nov., S. curvipes gen. et sp. nov. and S...

Adults of the aquatic coptoclavid beetles (Coleoptera: Adephaga: Dytiscoidea), described from four Middle Jurassic fossil localities in Inner Mongolia and Liaoning in northeastern China, are attributed to Daohugounectes primitives Wang, Ponomarenko and Zhang, 2009, which was previously proposed after study of larvae. The generic name Timarchopsis B...

The Palaeontinidae (Insecta: Cicadomorpha) from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone of Bavaria are revised. The diagnostic characters for three monotypic genera Eocicada Oppenheim, 1888, Prolystra Oppenheim, 1888 and Archipsyche Handlirsch, 1906 are reassessed based on newly discovered material. Beloptesis gigantea (Weyenbergh, 1874), B. oppenhe...

A new coleopteran genus, Parelateriformius, gen. nov., comprising the species P. communis, sp. nov., P. villosus, sp. nov., P. capitifossus, sp. nov., and P. mirabdominis, sp. nov., is described from Daohugou deposits, Inner Mongolia, China, and is assigned to the infraorder Elateriformia. The systematic position of the new genus within the suborde...

Daohugounectes primitivus, a new genus and species of coptoclavid beetles, is described from 67 fossil larvae from the Jurassic locality of Daohugou, northeastern China. It differs from other coptoclavids in the combination of the following characters: lateral lobes of nasale present; legs relatively short, with tarsi flat and slightly dilated; abd...

The new generic name Martynovocossus nom. nov. (Hemiptera, Palaeontinidae) is proposed as a replacement name for the preoccupied and junior homonym Pseudocossus Martynov, 1931, non Pseudocossus Kenrick, 1914, non Pseudocossus Gaede, 1933. The new genus group is redefined based on new, exceptionally preserved material including complete forewings an...