Content uploaded by Ming Bai
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Ming Bai on Jul 21, 2017
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
A catalogue of Burmite inclusions
Figures
Figures - uploaded by Ming Bai
Author content
All figure content in this area was uploaded by Ming Bai
Content may be subject to copyright.
... This type of amber, known as 'Burmite' contains a unique paleontological diversity that has been described in numerous studies (e.g. Grimaldi et al. 2002;Ross et al. 2010;Guo et al. 2017;Ross , 2021Ross , 2023. Burmite is about 99 million years old (i.e. ...
The present study provides a first investigation of fossil thrips from the Late Cretaceous. It deals with two specimens-Avithrips yellae gen. et sp. n. and Campanithrips kyakhei gen. et sp. n.-which are preserved as inclusions in Campanian Hti Lin (or Tilin) amber from Myanmar. Their taxonomic classification in the families Melanthripidae and Stenurothripidae, as well as an adhering pollen grain suggest that both thrips may have been associated with flowers.
... 9643011.8800E) (Cruickshank & Ko, 2003;Guo et al., 2017). The age of Myanmar amber is dated by U-Pb to 98.79 ± 0.62 Ma, earliest Cenomanian, mid-Cretaceous (Cruickshank & Ko, 2003;Shi et al., 2012). ...
A new species of caddisfly, Neucentropus wichardi sp. nov., from the Neureclipsis cluster in the Polycentropodidae Ulmer, 1903 is described from the mid-Cretaceous amber of Myanmar. The original description of Electrocentropus dilucidus Wichard, 2021 is modified with further features. The absence of forewing fork IV and the fusion of the Sc and R1 before reaching the wing margin in both forewing and hindwing of Electrocentropus indicate that the genus is probably the sister group of all other genera of the Neureclipsis cluster. The fossil findings of Polycentropodidae from different geological periods are summarized in tabular form. The comparison shows a high diversity in the Cretaceous of the Neureclipsis cluster, but declined after the Mesozoic and was afterwards replaced by the strong Polycentropus cluster and the Cyrnus cluster.
... The worker caste of Zigrasimecia also represents the first case of extreme mesosomal simplification in ants (Boudinot et al., 2022b). Given the state of the art and considering the prolific period of the taxonomy of Burmese insects, with an ever-increasing rate of descriptions (Guo et al., 2017), we can be almost sure that Zigrasimecia species will grow significantly, and thus, descriptions should be based primarily on the worker caste to avoid the development of a parallel taxonomy. If specific epithets continue to be given to queens and workers indiscriminately, many will fatally be, at some point, spurious names that would artificially inflate the genus diversity. ...
The extinct Cretaceous ant genus Zigrasimecia Barden & Grimaldi, the “iron maiden ants” from Myanmar, is revised, and five new species are described: †Z. boudinoti sp. nov., †Z. caohuijiae sp. nov.,†Z. chuyangsui sp. nov., †Z. perrichoti sp. nov., and †Z. thate sp. nov. Zigrasimecia hoelldobleri paratype (CNU-HYM-MA2019054) is removed from the type series. New diagnoses for all species are provided and species boundaries are discussed. Studied specimens that are not ideally preserved are presented and discussed, some of them are putative new species. Two identification keys for the genus are provided, a traditional, dichotomous key and an interactive, multi-entry key hosted online at the website www.Xper3.fr. I briefly discuss the unlikeliness of the genus Boltonimecia to belong to the subfamily Zigrasimeciinae, and also the taxonomic problem caused by the description of species based on alates and poorly preserved fossils.
... Within the past 20 years, Burmese amber has become one of the most important fossil localities for our knowledge of mid-Cretaceous flora and fauna. By the middle of 2021 over 2,000 species had been described (Ross , 2019(Ross , 2021a(Ross , 2021b; also see Guo et al. 2017). Totally, 27 insect orders in 130 families had been reported by Grimaldi & Engel (2005), which numbers have greatly increased since then (Ross 2019(Ross , 2021a(Ross , 2021b. ...
The diagnosis of Palaeodysagrion cretacicus Zheng et al., 2016 is revised based on the description of a new specimen from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Previously, only a fragmentary wing base was known from the holotype. The new specimen shows the complete wing venation of fore- and hind wings as well as large parts of the body anatomy. The new information proves that Palaeodysagrion youlini Zheng et al., 2017 has a very different venation and does not belong to the same genus. Therefore, a new genus Pseudopalaeodysagrion gen. nov. is erected for this species. Concurring with the results of Archibald et al. (2021), the “dysagrionine” taxa from Burmese amber are transferred from Dysagrionidae to Burmadysagrionidae stat. nov.
... Morphological information including descriptions of genus and species is presented with the discussion on the nymphal morphology. of the amber (Fig. 1). This amber originates from the Hukawng Valley, Kachin State in northern Myanmar where most arthropod inclusions from mid-Cretaceous have been reported from the area of Cretaceous marine sedimentary rocks (Guo et al., 2017;Jiang et al., 2020). For more detailed information of the amber deposit and its geological setting, see Cruickshank & Ko (2003) and Bai et al. (2016), and for recent lists of Burmese amber fossils described, see Ross (2019Ross ( , 2022. ...
The oldest Nabinae fossil, Cretanabis kerzhneri gen. et sp. nov., is described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber based on a well-preserved specimen. The morphology of the nymph fossil is presented with diagnosis and description. The comparison with the nymphs of groups within Nabinae and the usefulness of nymphal morphology are discussed.
Mesozoic amber cockroaches are rare compared to sedimentary imprints and are only known from Myanmar, Lebanon, France, Russia and USA. Perspicuus csincsii sp. n. from the Late Cretaceous (Santonian) ajkaite amber of Hungary with very long cerci, cup-like terminal palpomere of the maxillary palp and fully carinated legs, is clearly distinguished from all other Vitisminae species by the unique, black forewing with small light-coloured dots/stripes and the absence of pubescence on the wings (autapomorphies). The second cockroach described from the ajkaite adds important data to the distribution pattern of Vitisminae during the Late Cretaceous and further highlights the similarity of the ajkaite and burmite biotas.
Hitherto, only two species of the thysanopteran suborder Terebrantia have been reported from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (Myanmar). This is here expanded through the discovery of two new genera and species, described and figured as Parallelothrips separatus gen. et sp. nov. and Didymothrips abdominalis gen. et sp. nov. , both of the family Stenurothripidae. Both taxa have key apomorphies of the Stenurothripidae, allowing for a confident assignment as to family. Both species have characteristic comb-like anteromarginal setae, which are discussed along with structural differences between the two sexes. Cycad pollen was found on the thrips’ bodies, providing further evidence that Thysanoptera were pollinators of gymnosperms during the mid-Cretaceous.
Frozen in time, captured forever. Extreme macro photography meets amber inclusions.
The resulting images reveal the beauty of nature, giving viewers a close encounter with biodiversity of the past.
Delicate flapping of wings, a fresh bite into prey, an intricate spider web and many more intricate wonders of nature, forever fossilized in resin.
AmberArt, a journey between Science and Beauty, takes you on a virtual tour highlighting the beauty of organisms encased in amber. With about 200 plates and more than 300 beautifully photographed animals and plants, you will encounter a mesmerizing world that was once buzzing with life.
ELife digest
Many animals care for and protect their offspring to increase their survival and fitness. Insects care for their young using a range of strategies: some dig underground chambers for their young, whilst others carry their brood around on their own bodies. However, it was unclear when these strategies first evolved in insects.
Now Wang et al. report that they have discovered the earliest fossil evidence of an insect caring for its young, in the form of a female insect preserved with her brood in a specimen of ancient amber. The amber comes from northern Myanmar, where amber deposits are around 95–105 million years old. The fossilised insect is an adult female scale insect with a cluster of around 60 eggs on her abdomen. Six young scale insect nymphs are also preserved in the same piece of amber. Wang et al. named this newly discovered species Wathondara kotejai, after an earth goddess in South-East Asian Buddhist mythology and the late Polish entomologist Jan Koteja.
Most scale insect fossils found to date have been males. Fossilised adult females are scarcer, most likely because female scale insects are wingless and less mobile and therefore less prone to accidental burial. The fossil reported by Wang et al. is therefore a rare find, and it is also sufficiently well preserved to reveal that the female's eggs are contained within a wax-coated egg sac. Today there are many species of scale insects, most of which are parasites of plants and many are economically important pests of trees and shrubs. In living relatives of W. kotejai, females use a similar wax coating to protect themselves and their offspring: young nymphs hatch inside the egg sac and remain there for a few days before emerging into the outside world.
This new fossil provides a unique insight into the anatomy and life cycle of a long-extinct insect; it also demonstrates that brood care in insects is an ancient trait that dates back to at least around 100 million years ago at the height of the age of the dinosaurs.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.05447.002
Electrobisium acutum Cockerell is redescribed from a specimen cut from the block of Burmese amber containing the
holotype. The presence of strong spines on the carapace and tergites indicates that E. acutum may be closely related to extant South African or Taiwanese species of the genus Clyptocheiridium Chamberlin. Electrobisium and Cryptocheiridium are not synonymized, however, due to insufficient knowledge of E. acutum (the type species of Electrobisium) and problems with the definition of Cryptocheiridium. The superfamily Cheiridioidea, containing the families Cheiridiidae and Pseudochiridiidae, is removed from synonymy with the Garypoidea and regarded as the sister group of the Cheliferoidea.
This taxonomic list is based on Ross et al (2010) plus non-arthropod taxa and published papers up to the end of 2016. It does not contain unpublished records or records from papers in press (including on-line proofs) or unsubstantiated on-line records. Often the final versions of papers were published on-line the year before they appeared in print, so the on-line published year is accepted and referred to accordingly. Note, the authorship of species does not necessarily correspond to the full authorship of papers where they were described. The latest high level classification is used where possible though in some cases conflicts were encountered, usually due to cladistic studies, so in these cases an older classification was adopted for convenience. The classification for Hexapoda follows Nicholson et al. (2015), plus subsequent papers. † denotes extinct orders and families. The list comprises 31 classes (or similar rank), 85 orders (or similar rank), 375 families, 530 genera and 643 species. This includes 6 classes, 54 orders, 342 families, 482 genera and 591 species of arthropods.
Mid-Cretaceous amber has yielded to date twelve species assigned to six genera of the plant bug family Tingidae Laporte, 1832: Burmacader Heiss & Guilbert (2 sp.); Cucullitingis Du & Yao (1 sp.); Paraphatnomacader Guilbert & Heiss (1 sp.); Spinitingis Heiss & Guilbert (1 sp.); Tingiometra Heiss, Golub & Popov (4 sp.); Tingiphatnoma Guilbert & Heiss (2 sp.) (Du & Yao, 2018; Golub & Heiss, 2020; Guilbert & Heiss, 2018; Heiss, Golub & Popov, 2015; Heiss & Guilbert, 2013, 2018, 2019; Maksoud, Azar & Huang, 2019; Ross, 2019). A new genus and species Microtingis leptosoma gen. et sp. nov. is described and illustrated below.
The phylogeny of pleasing lacewings (Neuroptera: Dilaridae) is reconstructed for the first time based on morphological data using all fossil and extant genera. Accordingly, a revised generic classification of Dilaridae is proposed, with a new subfamily (i.e. Berothellinae subfam.n. ) erected based on its remarkably different morphological features from the other dilarid subfamilies. A revision of all dilarid genera is presented, including descriptions of some little‐known species from Asia and Mid‐Cretaceous Burmese amber. New genera and species herein described include Berothella holzschuhi U. Aspöck, Liu & H. Aspöck, sp.n. , Cretodilar burmanus Liu & Zhang, gen. et sp.n. , Dilar cretaceus Liu & Zhang, sp.n. , Neonallachius orientalis Liu, U. Aspöck & H. Aspöck, sp.n. and Neonallachius thailandicus Liu & Winterton, sp.n. Two new combinations, i.e. Neonallachius krooni (Minter, 1986), comb.n. and Neonallachius ponomarenkoi (Zakharenko, 1991), comb.n. , are proposed. Evolutionary patterns of some important characters and the historical biogeography of Dilaridae are also discussed.
This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:68836312‐FBDC‐4F9F‐8516‐2365F44596BF .