Mesembrinella caenozoica
Mesembrinella caenozoica Temporal range:
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Holotype male | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Diptera |
Family: | Mesembrinellidae |
Subfamily: | Mesembrinellinae |
Genus: | Mesembrinella |
Species: | †M. caenozoica
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Binomial name | |
†Mesembrinella caenozoica Cerretti et al, 2017
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Mesembrinella caenozoica is an
History and classification
Mesembrinella caenozoica was described based on a single fossilised specimen which is preserved as an inclusion in a transparent chunk of Dominican amber.[1] The amber was produced by the extinct Hymenaea protera, which formerly grew on the island of Hispaniola, across northern South America and up to southern Mexico. The amber dates from the Burdigalian stage (20.43 ± 0.05 to 15.97 ± 0.05 million years ago) of the Miocene, and is recovered from sections of the La Toca Formation in the Cordillera Septentrional and the Yanigua Formation in the Cordillera Oriental.[2] The specimen was collected from an unidentified amber mine in the Dominican Republic.[1]
At the time of description, the
Paleoecology
Members of the family Mesembrinellidae are found exclusively in the
Phylogeny
Based on a phylogenetic analysis of Mesembrinellidae species along with other Oestroidea, Cerretti et al placed M. caenozoica as a sister species to the living species
Oestroidea |
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Description
The M. caenozoica male is 8.5 mm (0.33 in) long, with a black to dark brown abdomen with possible red coloration if viewed at certain angles. The legs are mostly dark brown to blackish brown, with the tibiae and femora also showing reddish or yellowish tones at certain angles of view and the pulvilli darkened. The thorax is also a uniform black to dark brown and the edges of both the metathoracic and prothoracic spiracles are dark brown. The area of the head between the eyes and frontal suture up to the antenna and below the eyes are a yellowish brown in tone. The scape and pedicel of the antennae are black, the postpedicel has a dark brown upper portion and a yellowish underside near the tip. The arista is mostly yellow in tone, though the base of the third aristomere is slightly darkened. The wing is hyaline in coloration with the well developed Alula being composed of an upper whitish calypter and lower infuscated calypter.[1]
References
- ^ PMID 28832610.
- ISBN 978-0-9558636-4-6.
External links
- Media related to Mesembrinella caenozoica at Wikimedia Commons