First fossil record of the mayfly family Vietnamellidae (Insecta, Ephemeroptera) from Burmese Amber confirms its Oriental origin and gives new insights into its evolution

By

Godunko, Roman J.
Martynov, Alexander V.
Staniczek, Arnold H.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1036

Pages

99--120

Subjects

Burmella gen. nov , Cretaceous , Ephemerelloidea , fossil mayflies , Myanmar , new genus , new species , Pannota

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1036.66435

 

Abstract

The small, monophyletic mayfly family Vietnamellidae Allen, 1984 has so far only been known from a few extant species of the genus Vietnamella Tshernova, 1972, which are all distributed in the Oriental Realm (Vietnam, Thailand, China, and India). Herein we report the first fossil record of Vietnamellidae based on a male and female imago from Mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. We establish the new genus Burmellagen. nov. to accommodate these two new Mesozoic specimens. Their attribution to Vietnamellidae is supported by the rounded shape of the hind wings with arched outer margin, the course of thoracic sutures, and characteristics of venation, especially of MP and Cu of the forewings and associated intercalary veins of the cubital field. At the same time, Burmellagen. nov. clearly differs from Vietnamella by a diminished number of longitudinal and cross veins in the hind wings, and by the different shape of male genitalia. This first fossil record of Vietnamellidae supports an age of at least 100 Ma for this taxon.