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Loewen EJT, Balkwill MA, Mattioli J, Cockx P, Caicedo MV, Muehlenbachs K, Tappert R, Borkent A, Libke C, Engel MS, Somers C, McKellar RC. New Canadian amber deposit fills gap in fossil record near end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Curr Biol 2024; 34:1762-1771.e3. [PMID: 38521062 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Revised: 12/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
Amber preserves an exceptional record of tiny, soft-bodied organisms and chemical environmental signatures, elucidating the evolution of arthropod lineages and the diversity, ecology, and biogeochemistry of ancient ecosystems. However, globally, fossiliferous amber deposits are rare in the latest Cretaceous and surrounding the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction.1,2,3,4,5 This faunal gap limits our understanding of arthropod diversity and survival across the extinction boundary.2,6 Contrasting hypotheses propose that arthropods were either relatively unaffected by the K-Pg extinction or experienced a steady decline in diversity before the extinction event followed by rapid diversification in the Cenozoic.2,6 These hypotheses are primarily based on arthropod feeding traces on fossil leaves and time-calibrated molecular phylogenies, not direct observation of the fossil record.2,7 Here, we report a diverse amber assemblage from the Late Cretaceous (67.04 ± 0.16 Ma) of the Big Muddy Badlands, Canada. The new deposit fills a critical 16-million-year gap in the arthropod fossil record spanning the K-Pg mass extinction. Seven arthropod orders and at least 11 insect families have been recovered, making the Big Muddy amber deposit the most diverse arthropod assemblage near the K-Pg extinction. Amber chemistry and stable isotopes suggest the amber was produced by coniferous (Cupressaceae) trees in a subtropical swamp near remnants of the Western Interior Seaway. The unexpected abundance of ants from extant families and the virtual absence of arthropods from common, exclusively Cretaceous families suggests that Big Muddy amber may represent a yet unsampled Late Cretaceous environment and provides evidence of a faunal transition before the end of the Cretaceous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elyssa J T Loewen
- Biology Department, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Pkwy, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada; Royal Saskatchewan Museum, 2340 Albert Street, Regina, SK S4P 2V7, Canada.
| | - Micheala A Balkwill
- Geology Department, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Pkwy, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
| | - Júlia Mattioli
- Geotop & Département des sciences de la Terre et de l'atmosphère, Université du Québec à Montréal, C.P. 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada
| | - Pierre Cockx
- Biology Department, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Pkwy, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada; Royal Saskatchewan Museum, 2340 Albert Street, Regina, SK S4P 2V7, Canada
| | - Maria Velez Caicedo
- Geology Department, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Pkwy, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
| | - Karlis Muehlenbachs
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, 116 St and 85 Ave, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Ralf Tappert
- Geology Department, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Rd, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, Canada
| | - Art Borkent
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA
| | - Caelan Libke
- Biology Department, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Pkwy, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada; Royal Saskatchewan Museum, 2340 Albert Street, Regina, SK S4P 2V7, Canada
| | - Michael S Engel
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA; Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Av. Óscar R. Benavides 5737, Callao 07006, Lima, Peru; Departamento de Entomología, Museo de Historia Natural, Av. Gral. Antonio Álvarez de Arenales 1256, Jesús María 15072, Lima, Peru
| | - Christopher Somers
- Biology Department, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Pkwy, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
| | - Ryan C McKellar
- Biology Department, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Pkwy, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada; Royal Saskatchewan Museum, 2340 Albert Street, Regina, SK S4P 2V7, Canada; Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1450 Jayhawk Blvd, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
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Barrón E, Peyrot D, Bueno-Cebollada CA, Kvaček J, Álvarez-Parra S, Altolaguirre Y, Meléndez N. Biodiversity of ecosystems in an arid setting: The late Albian plant communities and associated biota from eastern Iberia. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0282178. [PMID: 36862709 PMCID: PMC9980801 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Deserts are stressful environments where the living beings must acquire different strategies to survive due to the water stress conditions. From the late Albian to the early Cenomanian, the northern and eastern parts of Iberia were the location of the desert system represented by deposits assigned to the Utrillas Group, which bear abundant amber with numerous bioinclusions, including diverse arthropods and vertebrate remains. In the Maestrazgo Basin (E Spain), the late Albian to early Cenomanian sedimentary succession represents the most distal part of the desert system (fore-erg) that was characterised by an alternation of aeolian and shallow marine sedimentary environments in the proximity of the Western Tethys palaeo-coast, with rare to frequent dinoflagellate cysts. The terrestrial ecosystems from this area were biodiverse, and comprised plant communities whose fossils are associated with sedimentological indicators of aridity. The palynoflora dominated by wind-transported conifer pollen is interpreted to reflect various types of xerophytic woodlands from the hinterlands and the coastal settings. Therefore, fern and angiosperm communities abundantly grew in wet interdunes and coastal wetlands (temporary to semi-permanent freshwater/salt marshes and water bodies). In addition, the occurrence of low-diversity megafloral assemblages reflects the existence of coastal salt-influenced settings. The palaeobotanical study carried out in this paper which is an integrative work on palynology and palaeobotany, does not only allow the reconstruction of the vegetation that developed in the mid-Cretaceous fore-erg from the eastern Iberia, in addition, provides new biostratigraphic and palaeogeographic data considering the context of angiosperm radiation as well as the biota inferred in the amber-bearing outcrops of San Just, Arroyo de la Pascueta and La Hoya (within Cortes de Arenoso succesion). Importantly, the studied assemblages include Afropollis, Dichastopollenites, Cretacaeiporites together with pollen produced by Ephedraceae (known for its tolerance to arid conditions). The presence of these pollen grains, typical for northern Gondwana, associates the Iberian ecosystems with those characterising the mentioned region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo Barrón
- Museo Geominero, Centro Nacional Instituto Geológico y Minero de España CN-IGME CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Daniel Peyrot
- School of Earth and Environment, Centre for Energy Geoscience, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | | | | | - Sergio Álvarez-Parra
- Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l’Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Yul Altolaguirre
- OCEEH Research Center ‘The role of cultura in early expansions of humans’, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Nieves Meléndez
- Deparment of Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Hassenbach C, Buchner L, Haug GT, Haug C, Haug JT. An Expanded View on the Morphological Diversity of Long-Nosed Antlion Larvae Further Supports a Decline of Silky Lacewings in the Past 100 Million Years. INSECTS 2023; 14:170. [PMID: 36835743 PMCID: PMC9966087 DOI: 10.3390/insects14020170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2022] [Revised: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Lacewings have been suggested to be a relict group. This means that the group of lacewings, Neuroptera, should have been more diverse in the past, which also applies to many ingroups of Neuroptera. Psychopsidae, the group of silky lacewings, is one of the ingroups of Neuroptera which is relatively species-poor in the modern fauna. Larvae of the group Psychopsidae, long-nosed antlions, can be easily identified as such in being larvae of antlion-like lacewings without teeth in their stylets (=compound structure of mandible and maxilla), with empodia (=attachment structures on legs) and with a prominent forward-protruding labrum. Therefore, such larvae can also be recognised in the fossil record. An earlier study demonstrated a decline in the morphological diversity of long-nosed antlion larvae over the past 100 million years. Here, we report several dozen new long-nosed antlion larvae and expand the earlier quantitative study. Our results further corroborate the decline of silky lacewings. Yet, a lack of an indication of saturation indicates that we have still not approached the original diversity of long-nosed antlions in the Cretaceous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Hassenbach
- Faculty of Biology, Biocenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich), Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Laura Buchner
- Faculty of Biology, Biocenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich), Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Gideon T. Haug
- Faculty of Biology, Biocenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich), Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Carolin Haug
- Faculty of Biology, Biocenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich), Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
- GeoBio-Center at LMU, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 Munich, Germany
| | - Joachim T. Haug
- Faculty of Biology, Biocenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich), Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
- GeoBio-Center at LMU, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 Munich, Germany
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Santos AA, Sender LM, Wappler T, Diez JB. Plant-Insect Interactions on Aquatic and Terrestrial Angiosperms from the Latest Albian (Early Cretaceous) of Estercuel (Northeastern Spain) and Their Paleoenvironmental Implications. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 12:508. [PMID: 36771593 PMCID: PMC9919284 DOI: 10.3390/plants12030508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Revised: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Fossils of plant-insect interactions are direct evidence of paleoecological relationships between these two dominant groups in terrestrial ecosystems. We present a variety of plant-insect interactions from the late Early Cretaceous (latest Albian) in the Estercuel locality in northeastern Spain (Iberian Peninsula), affecting two types of terrestrial angiosperms and the basal eudicot Klitzschophyllites, which is one of the oldest putative members of aquatic Ranunculales found to date. The study of these interactions revealed 23 different damage types belonging to eight functional feeding groups (hole feeding, margin feeding, skeletonization, surface feeding, piercing and sucking, mining, oviposition and galling), suggesting these angiosperms were an important source of food and lodging for insects in the Iberian ecosystems during the late Early Cretaceous. Notably, the diversity of damage in the leaves of angiosperms suggests a diverse community of herbivorous insects and a variety of strategies of interactions with plants at the end of the Early Cretaceous in the southwestern Tethys realm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Artai A. Santos
- Departamento de Xeociencias Mariñas e Ordenación do Territorio, Facultade de Ciencias do Mar, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo (CIM-UVIGO), 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Luis M. Sender
- Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis/Museo Aragonés de Paleontología, 44002 Teruel, Spain
| | - Torsten Wappler
- Department of Natural History, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Friedensplatz 1, 64283 Darmstadt, Germany
- Section Palaeontology, Institute of Geosciences, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - José B. Diez
- Departamento de Xeociencias Mariñas e Ordenación do Territorio, Facultade de Ciencias do Mar, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo (CIM-UVIGO), 36310 Vigo, Spain
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Solórzano-Kraemer MM, J. Sinclair B, Arillo A, Álvarez-Parra S. A new genus of dance fly (Diptera: Empidoidea: Hybotidae) from Cretaceous Spanish ambers and introduction to the fossiliferous amber outcrop of La Hoya (Castellón Province, Spain). PeerJ 2023; 11:e14692. [PMID: 36655053 PMCID: PMC9841903 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Hybotidae fly species, also known as dance flies, in Cretaceous ambers have been described from Lebanon, France, Myanmar, Russia, and Canada. Here we describe Grimaldipeza coelica gen. et sp. n., and recognize another two un-named species, in Spanish amber from the middle Albian El Soplao and lower Cenomanian La Hoya outcrops. The fore tibial gland is present in the new genus, which is characteristic of the family Hybotidae. We compare Grimaldipeza coelica gen. et sp. n. with the holotypes of Trichinites cretaceus Hennig, 1970 and Ecommocydromia difficilis Schlüter, 1978, and clarify some morphological details present in the latter two species. Further taxonomic placement beyond family of the here described new genus was not possible and remains incertae sedis within Hybotidae until extant subfamilies are better defined. We provide new paleoecological data of the hybotids, together with paleogeographical and life paleoenvironmental notes. A table with the known Cretaceous Hybotidae is provided. Furthermore, the La Hoya amber-bearing outcrop is described in detail, filling the information gap for this deposit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mónica M. Solórzano-Kraemer
- Paläontologie und Historische Geologie, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Bradley J. Sinclair
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canadian National Collection of Insects, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Antonio Arillo
- Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Sergio Álvarez-Parra
- Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l’Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain,Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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Álvarez-Parra S, Peñalver E, Delclòs X, Engel MS. A braconid wasp (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from the Lower Cretaceous amber of San Just, eastern Iberian Peninsula. Zookeys 2022; 1103:65-78. [PMID: 36761791 PMCID: PMC9848867 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1103.83650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Braconid parasitoid wasps are a widely diversified group today, while their fossil record from the Mesozoic is currently poorly known. Here, we describe Utrillabraconelectropteron Álvarez-Parra & Engel, gen. et sp. nov., from the upper Albian (Lower Cretaceous) amber of San Just in the eastern Iberian Peninsula. The holotype specimen is incomplete, although the forewing and hind wing venation are well preserved. The new taxon is assigned to the subfamily †Protorhyssalinae (Braconidae) and, based on characteristics of the wing venation, seems to be closely related to Protorhyssalusgoldmani Basibuyuk & Quicke, 1999 and Diorhyssalusallani (Brues, 1937), both from Upper Cretaceous ambers of North America. We discuss the taxonomy of the Cretaceous braconids, considering †Seneciobraconinae as a valid subfamily. We also comment on possible relationships within †Protorhyssalinae, although a phylogenetic analysis is necessary. Additionally, a checklist is included of braconids known from Cretaceous ambers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Álvarez-Parra
- Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l’Oceà and Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, c/ Martí i Franquès s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Enrique Peñalver
- Instituto Geológico y Minero de España-CSIC, c/ Cirilo Amorós 42, 46004, Valencia, Spain
| | - Xavier Delclòs
- Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l’Oceà and Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, c/ Martí i Franquès s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Michael S. Engel
- Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive – Suite 140, Lawrence, Kansas 66045-4415, USA,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA
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