THE FIRST FOSSIL PROSCOPIIDAE (INSECTA, ORTHOPTERA, EUMASTACOIDEA) WITH COMMENTS ON THE HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY AND EVOLUTION OF THE FAMILY

Author: HEADS, SAM W.

Source: Palaeontology, Volume 51, Number 2, March 2008 , pp. 499-507(9)

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Abstract:

Eoproscopia martilli gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Crato Formation Lagerstätte of Ceará State, north-east Brazil. The new taxon is assigned to the extant family Proscopiidae and represents the first occurrence of the group in the fossil record. Eoproscopia is similar to crown group proscopiids in its stick-like habitus, elongate prothorax and absence of the cryptopleuron, but differs in the presence of well-developed wings, the short head with a small, simple fastigium, the prothoracic legs being inserted near the posterior margin of the prothorax, and the absence of spines on the metathoracic tibiae. The discovery of Eoproscopia extends the geological range of the family by approximately 110 myr and confirms the presence of stem-group proscopiids in the Atlantic rift zone of South America during the Early Cretaceous.

Keywords: Insecta; Orthoptera; Eumastacoidea; Proscopiidae; Brazil; Cretaceous

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00756.x

Publication date: 2008-03-01