The first fossil Perilestidae (Odonata: Zygoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Daran Zheng (1, 2) , Bo Wang (3, 1) , Edmund A. Jarzembowski (1, 4) , Su-Chin Chang (2) , André Nel (5)

1 NIGPAS-CAS - Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology
2 Department of Earth Sciences [Hong kong]
3 Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution
4 DES-NHM - Department of Earth Sciences [NHM London]
5 ISYEB - Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité

Palaeoperilestes electronicus gen. et sp. nov. is the first perilestid damselfly described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. This new damselfly can be attributed to the family Perilestidae by the midfork being distal of the subnodus and the base of IR2 quite near to the base of RP2, both features found in the extant genera Perilestes and Perissolestes. Palaeoperilestes electronicus gen. et sp. nov. has a strongly zigzagged IR1, however, differing from Perilestes and Perissolestes which have a straight IR1. The discovery not only adds to the diversity of damselflies in Burmese amber, but also puts the origin of Perilestidae back to at least the mid-Cretaceous.

Mots clés: Perilestidae; Zygoptera; Odonata; Cenomanian; Cretaceous; Burmese amber

Domaines: Paléontologie

Daran Zheng, Bo Wang, Edmund A. Jarzembowski, Su-Chin Chang, André Nel. The first fossil Perilestidae (Odonata: Zygoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Cretaceous Research, 2016, 65, pp.199-205. ⟨10.1016/j.cretres.2016.05.002⟩. ⟨hal-01321842⟩