The first scarabaeid beetle (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Melolonthinae) described from the Mesozoic (Late-Cretaceous) of Africa

By

Woolley, Christopher

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2016-6-6

Original Publication

African invertebrates : a journal of biodiversity research

Volume

57

Series / Issue

Issue: 1

Pages

53--66

Subjects

Botswana , Crater Lake , diamond mine , Late Cretaceous , Mesozoic , Orapa , palaeoenvironment , scarab , Scarabaeoidea , Turonian

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa Council of the Natal Museum 2001-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.57.8416

 

Abstract

A full description is given of the first scarabaeid beetle documented from the Mesozoic (Late Cretaceous) of Africa (Orapa, Botswana). Brief and partial descriptions of this beetle have appeared in two previous review papers of fossils from the Orapa Diamond Mine. This work represents an updated analysis and interpretation of the fossil based on character comparison and phylogenetic analysis. The new genus and species, Ceafornotensis archratiras, are described in Melolonthinaeincertae sedis. Phylogenetic analysis suggests a sister group relationship with the tribe Phaenognathini (Melolonthinaeincertae sedis). Although phytophagy in the adult beetle cannot be confirmed, it is proposed that angiosperms could have contributed to a proportion of its diet (larval or adult). This beetle may belong to a stem lineage of pleurostict scarabaeids which later experienced major radiation in response to widespread environmental changes brought about by continuing radiation of the angiosperms.