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Vera EI, Monferran MD, Massaferro J, Sabater LM, Gallego OF, Perez Loinaze VS, Moyano-Paz D, Agnolín FL, Manabe M, Tsuhiji T, Novas FE. A Maastrichtian insect assemblage from Patagonia sheds light on arthropod diversity previous to the K/Pg event. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1249. [PMID: 38072954 PMCID: PMC10711029 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05596-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Insect faunas from the latest Cretaceous are poorly known worldwide. Particularly, in the Southern Hemisphere, there is a gap regarding insect assemblages in the Campanian-Maastrichtian interval. Here we present an insect assemblage from the Maastrichtian Chorrillo Formation, southern Argentina, represented by well-preserved and non-deformed, chitinous microscopic remains including head capsules, wings and scales. Identified clades include Chironomidae dipterans, Coelolepida lepidopterans, and Ephemeroptera. The assemblage taxonomically resembles those of Cenozoic age, rather than other Mesozoic assemblages, in being composed by diverse chironomids and lepidopterans. To the best of our knowledge, present discovery constitutes the first insect body fossils for the Maastrichtian in the Southern Hemisphere, thus filling the gap between well-known Early Cretaceous entomofaunas and those of Paleogene age. The presented evidence shows that modern clades of chironomids were already dominant and diversified by the end of the Cretaceous, in concert with the parallel radiation of aquatic angiosperms which became dominant in freshwater habitats. This exceptional finding encourages the active search of microscopic remains of fossil arthropods in other geological units, which could provide a unique way of enhancing our knowledge on the past diversity of the clade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ezequiel I Vera
- División Paleobotánica, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" (MACN-CONICET), Av. Ángel Gallardo 470, C1405DJR, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mateo D Monferran
- Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral CONICET y Departamento de Biología, FaCENA-UNNE, Ruta Provincial N° 5, s/n, Km 2,5, 3400, Corrientes, Argentina
| | - Julieta Massaferro
- Programa de Estudios Aplicados a la Conservación de la Biodiversidad CENAC/APN, Fagnano 244, 8400, Bariloche, Argentina
| | - Lara M Sabater
- Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral CONICET y Departamento de Biología, FaCENA-UNNE, Ruta Provincial N° 5, s/n, Km 2,5, 3400, Corrientes, Argentina
| | - Oscar F Gallego
- Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral CONICET y Departamento de Biología, FaCENA-UNNE, Ruta Provincial N° 5, s/n, Km 2,5, 3400, Corrientes, Argentina
| | - Valeria S Perez Loinaze
- División Paleobotánica, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" (MACN-CONICET), Av. Ángel Gallardo 470, C1405DJR, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Damián Moyano-Paz
- Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas (CIG, CONICET-UNLP), Diagonal 113 #275, B1904DPK, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Federico L Agnolín
- Laboratorio de Anatomía Comparada y Evolución de los Vertebrados (LACEV), Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" (MACN-CONICET), Av. Ángel Gallardo 470, C1405DJR, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Fundación de Historia Natural "Félix de Azara", Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Antropología, Universidad Maimónides, Hidalgo 775, C1405BDB, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Makoto Manabe
- Center for Collections, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba 305-0005, Tokio, Japan
| | - Takanobu Tsuhiji
- Department of Geology, National Museum of Nature and Science, 3-23-1 Hyakanin-cho, Shinjuku-lu, 1069-0073, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Fernando E Novas
- Laboratorio de Anatomía Comparada y Evolución de los Vertebrados (LACEV), Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" (MACN-CONICET), Av. Ángel Gallardo 470, C1405DJR, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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“Lepidoptera Flies”, but Not Always…Interactions of Caterpillars and Chrysalis with Soil. DIVERSITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/d15010027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Lepidoptera, an order of insects traditionally linked to the aerial habitat, are much more diverse in their living environment than the clichéd image we may have of them. The imago stage, which is the most visible in these insects, is not the one that has the most interaction with the environment (usually caterpillars) nor the one that lasts the longest (very often chrysalises). These two stages are often directly related to litter and soil, although only the interaction at the pupal stage seems to follow a phylogenetic logic with two independent evolutionary events for the preference with soil: Use of litter and the upper “O” horizon as protection against predation for the evolutionarily oldest Lepidoptera families, pupation at greater depths (up to 60 centimetres in extreme cases) for the most derived Lepidoptera families; this probably to take advantage of the thermal and moisture buffer provided by the soil. An estimate suggests that about 25% of lepidopteran species worldwide have more or less obligatory interactions with soil.
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Farfán J, Cerdeña J, Arivilca M, Condori-Mamani M, Huanca-Mamani W, Vargas HA. First record of Alucita danunciae (Lepidoptera: Alucitidae) in Peru. STUDIES ON NEOTROPICAL FAUNA AND ENVIRONMENT 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/01650521.2019.1702617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jackie Farfán
- Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, Museo de Historia Natural, Arequipa, Perú
| | - José Cerdeña
- Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, Museo de Historia Natural, Arequipa, Perú
- PPG Biologia Animal, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Melany Arivilca
- Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, Museo de Historia Natural, Arequipa, Perú
| | - Moises Condori-Mamani
- Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, Museo de Historia Natural, Arequipa, Perú
| | - Wilson Huanca-Mamani
- Departamento de Producción Agrícola, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
| | - Héctor A. Vargas
- Departamento de Recursos Ambientales, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
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