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Maxim V. Nabozhenko. 2019.
The Fossil Record of Darkling Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae).
Geosciences. December 2019. 9, 514: 20 pp.
DOI: 10.3390/geosciences9120514
Abstract:
The fossil record of Tenebrionidae (excluding the Quartenary)
is presented. In total, 122 fossil
species, clearly belonging to the family, are known; some beetles
were determined only to genus;
78 genera are listed in the fossil record, including 29 extinct genera.
The great diversity of tenebrionids
occurs in the Lower Cretaceous Lagerstatte of China (Yixian Formation),
Middle Paleocene of France
(Menat), Lower Eocene deposits of Germany (Geiseltal),
Upper Eocene Baltic amber (Eastern Europe),
Upper Eocene deposits of Florissant Formation (USA) and Miocene
(Dominican amber).
Tenebrionids
of the following major lineages, including seven subfamilies, are currently known in the fossil
record. These include the lagrioid branch (Lagriinae, Nilioninae), pimelioid branch (Pimeliinae),
and tenebrioid branch (Alleculinae, Tenebrioninae, Diaperinae, Stenochiinae). The importance of
the fossil record for evolutionary reconstructions and phylogenetic patterns is discussed. The oldest
Jurassic and Early Cretaceous darkling beetles of the tenebrionoid branch consist of humid-adapted
groups from the extant tribes Alleculini, Ctenopodiini (Alleculinae), and Alphitobiini (Tenebrioninae).
Thus, paleontological evidence suggests that di erentiation of the family started at least by the
Middle Jurassic but does not indicate that xerophilic darkling beetles di erentiated much earlier than
mesophilic groups.
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