The earliest amber-recorded type cockroach family was aposematic (Blattaria: Blattidae) |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovakia;2. Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Physics, Research Center for Quantum Information, Dúbravská cesta 9, Bratislava 84511, Slovakia;3. Earth Science Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, P.O. BOX 106, 840 05 Bratislava, Slovakia;4. Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya 123, 117868 Moscow, Russia;5. Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovi?ova 6, Bratislava 84215, Slovakia;6. Cherepovets State University, Cherepovets 162600, Russia;7. Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, D-70191 Stuttgart, Germany;8. Friedhofstraße 9, 66894 Käshofen, Germany;9. Bodelschwinghstraße 13, 34119 Kassel, Germany;10. State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China;11. Lebanese University, Faculty of Science II, Fanar, Natural Sciences Department, PO Box 26110217, Fanar - Matn, Lebanon;12. Kitakyushu Museum, Japan;13. River Bigal Conservation Project, Avenida Rafael Andrade y clotario Vargas, 220450 Loreto, Orellana, Ecuador |
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| Abstract: | Only seven adult cockroaches have been described from Mesozoic amber. Balatronis cretacea gen. et sp. nov. from the Cenomanian burmite is the most ancient member of the type cockroach family Blattidae and the only one recorded from Cretaceous strata. Individuals represented by immature and adults (n = 14, 4) constitute 3.2 per cents of all Myanmar amber cockroaches surveyed by us – indicating habits close to source trees supported with bark body pattern (absent in sedimentary fossils). Preservation in small-sized pieces suggests longer post-depositional transportation. Its characteristic aposematic coloration suggests direct ancestry to the living repellent harlequin cockroach Neostylopyga rhombifolia, which lost its wings. Along with the bizarre Manipulatoridae, Eadiidae and Alienopteridae species, it exemplifies the high disparity of cockroaches in the ancient amber–producing tropical forest, but also documents the appearance of advanced modern taxa. |
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| Keywords: | Fossil insects Mesozoic cockroaches Blattodea Cenomanian Late Cretaceous Myanmar amber Tropical zone |
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