Manipulator Temporal range: Cenomanian, | |
---|---|
Fossil specimen | |
Reconstruction | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Blattodea |
Superfamily: | Corydioidea |
Family: | † Manipulatoridae Vršanský & Bechly 2015 [1] |
Genus: | † Manipulator Vršanský & Bechly 2015 [1] |
Species: | †M. modificaputis |
Binomial name | |
†Manipulator modificaputis Vršanský & Bechly 2015 [1] | |
Manipulator modificaputis is an extinct cockroach which lived during the Upper Cretaceous period. The holotype specimen is fossilized in a 100-million-year-old piece of Burmese amber, which was found in a quarry of volcanoclastic mudstone (a sedimentary rock) at Noije Bum in the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar. The insect was described by Peter Vršanský, of the Geological Institute SAS of Bratislava, and by Günter Bechly, of the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart. [1]
The cockroach was found to have an elongated neck, a freely rotating head and unexpectedly long legs, which are indicative of a predatory lifestyle. [2] However, as of 2022, it is thought that M. modificaputis tended to live around and feed on flowers. [3] In addition, this insect has some characteristics superficially similar to mantises, however differ from other many characters. [3] The insect body is 9.3 millimetres (0.37 in) long with 14.7 millimetres (0.58 in) long forewings for male and 10.9 millimetres (0.43 in) body length, 13.4 millimetres (0.53 in) forewing length for female. [3]
The authors erected a new family, Manipulatoridae, after examining the specimen on the basis of "the unique habitus with numerous autapomorphies along with several plesiomorphies." [4] Other specimens including that of a juvenile were discovered from the Myanmar amber mines [4] and described in 2022. [3]
This species was found along with dozens of other extinct species of insects fully preserved in amber, making Noije Bum in the Hukawng Valley region one of the most important regions for amber fossils containing fully preserved insects. [5]
This species belonged to the invertebrate fauna of the ancient amber forest of the Myanmar region. [1]
It was the only member of the family Manipulatoridae until 2022, when the related genus Manipulatoides was described from the same deposit. [3]
Cretaceogekko is an extinct monotypic genus of gecko known from a single partial specimen preserved in Burmese amber from the Cenomanian of Myanmar. The specimen was found in the Hukawng Valley in 2001 and the genus and species were named by E. Nicholas Arnold and George Poinar in 2008. The specimen includes a foot and partial tail. Cretaceogekko is the oldest known gecko, predating the Late Cretaceous gecko Gobekko and the Paleogene gecko Yantarogecko, which has also been preserved in amber.
Palaeoagaracites is an extinct monotypic genus of gilled fungus in the order Agaricales. It contains the single species Palaeoagaracites antiquus.
Myanmymar is an extinct genus of fairyfly preserved in Burmese amber from Myanmar. It has only one species, Myanmymar aresconoides. It is dated to the earliest part of the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, around 99 million years old. As of 2011, it is the oldest known fossil mymarid.
Amarantoraphidia is an extinct genus of snakefly in the family Mesoraphidiidae. The genus is solely known from Early Cretaceous, Albian age, fossil amber found in Spain. Currently the genus comprises only a single species Amarantoraphidia ventolina.
Mesoraphidiidae is an extinct family of snakeflies in the suborder Raphidiomorpha. The family lived from the Late Jurassic through the Late Cretaceous and is known from twenty-five genera. Mesoraphidiids have been found as both compression fossils and as inclusions in amber. The family was first proposed in 1925 by the Russian paleoentomologist Andrey Vasilyevich Martynov based on Upper Jurassic fossils recovered in Kazakhstan. The family was expanded in 2002 by the synonymizing of several other proposed snakefly families. The family was divided into three subfamilies and one tribe in a 2011 paper, further clarifying the relationships of the included genera.
Lebanoraphidia is an extinct genus of snakefly in the family Mesoraphidiidae. The genus is solely known from Cretaceous, Upper Neocomian, fossil amber found in Lebanon. Currently the genus is composed of a single species Lebanoraphidia nana.
Zigrasimecia is an extinct genus of ants which existed in the Cretaceous period approximately 98 million years ago. The first specimens were collected from Burmese amber in Kachin State, 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Myitkyina town in Myanmar. In 2013, palaeoentomologists Phillip Barden and David Grimaldi published a paper describing and naming Zigrasimecia tonsora. They described a dealate female with unusual features, notably the highly specialized mandibles. Other features include large ocelli, short scapes, 12 antennomeres, small eyes, and a clypeal margin that has a row of peg-like denticles. The genus Zigrasimecia was originally incertae sedis within Formicidae until a second species, Zigrasimecia ferox, was described in 2014, leading to its placement in the subfamily Sphecomyrminae. Later, it was considered to belong to the distinct subfamily Zigrasimeciinae.
Chresmoda is an extinct genus of insects within the family Chresmodidae.
Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. The amber is of significant palaeontological interest due to the diversity of flora and fauna contained as inclusions, particularly arthropods including insects and arachnids but also birds, lizards, snakes, frogs and fragmentary dinosaur remains. The amber has been known and commercially exploited since the first century AD, and has been known to science since the mid-nineteenth century. Research on the deposit has attracted controversy due to the role of the amber trade in funding internal conflict in Myanmar and hazardous working conditions in the mines where it is collected.
Makarkinia is an extinct genus of lacewings in the family Kalligrammatidae described by Martins-Neto in 1997 from fossils found in the Crato Formation of the Araripe Basin in northeastern Brazil. The genus contains three species dating to the Late Aptian, Makarkinia adamsi, Makarkinia kerneri and Makarkinia irmae.
Rafaelnymphes is an extinct genus of lacewing in the family Nymphidae known from a fossil found in South America. The genus contains a single species, Rafaelnymphes cratoensis.
Burmaleon is an extinct genus of lacewing in the family Osmylidae known from fossils found in Asia. The genus contains a single species, Burmaleon magnificus.
Alienopterus brachyelytrus is an extinct insect described from a 99 million year old fossil found in Burmese amber from the Hukawng Valley of Myanmar. It was the first known member of the order Alienoptera until 2018, when the second and third members of the order, Caputoraptor elegans, and Alienopterella stigmatica were described. A. brachyelytrus has characters that are shared with cockroaches and mantids and is thought to represent either the sister taxon, or an ancestor to mantids.
Alienopteridae is an extinct family of dictyopterans, known from the Mid-Cretaceous to Eocene. They are noted for their unusual combination of features not found in other dictyopterans.
Aethiocarenus is an extinct genus of insects which has a single species Aethiocarenus burmanicus described from a 98.79 ±0.62 million year old fossil found in Burmese amber from the Hukawng Valley of Myanmar. The insect is unusual due to the vertex of the triangular head being attached to the pronotum as opposed to the hypotenuse. When first described Aethiocarenus was placed as the sole member of the family Aethiocarenidae and order Aethiocarenodea. However, Aethiocarenus was later considered to be a nymph of Alienopterus. Vršanský et al. (2018) considered Aethiocarenus to be an alienopterid nymph, but considered it distinct from other members of this group and deserving a separate genus rank.
Caputoraptor is an extinct genus of insect from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber containing two species: the type species Caputoraptor elegans, as well as Caputoraptor vidit. It is part of the extinct order Alienoptera. C. elegans is notable for the presence of a scissor like mechanism consisting of a straight edge on the back of the head and corresponding serrated edges on the first thoracic segment, these were initially suggested to be used by the female to grasp the male during mating, but the structure is not sexually dimorphic, so a use to hold prey was subsequently suggested. Its morphology suggests a predatory habit inhabiting shrubs and trees. In 2020 a Caputoraptor elegans nymph was described that was in the process of being predated upon by a Ceratomyrmex hell ant.
Oculudentavis is an extinct genus of lizard of uncertain taxonomic placement, originally identified as an avialan dinosaur. It contains two known species, O. khaungraae and O. naga. Each species is known from one partial fossil specimen in Burmese amber, which differ in several proportions. Their skulls measure 1.4–1.7 centimetres (0.55–0.67 in) in length, indicating that Oculudentavis would have been comparable in size with the modern bee hummingbird if it were an avialan. Both specimens were retrieved from 99-million-year-old deposits of the Hukawng Basin in Kachin State, northern Myanmar. The type specimen of O. khaungraae is embroiled in controversy regarding its identity and the ethical issues surrounding the acquisition and study of Burmese amber. The original description advocating for an avialan identity was published in Nature, but has since then been retracted from the journal.
Blattulidae is an extinct family of cockroaches known from the Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. Their distinguishing characteristics include "forewing has long Sc, regular venation with distinct intercalaries and hindwing has simple CuP, branched A1."
Liberiblattinidae is an extinct family of cockroaches known from the Jurassic to Cretaceous. Some taxa, like Cryptoblatta and Hydrokhoohydra, are suggested to be semiaquatic. Spongistoma is suggested to be a nectarivore due to its unique sucking/sponging "proboscis" mouthparts. Some authors have suggested that the family is ancestral to Mantodea.
Paleotriatoma metaxytaxa is a species of fossil insect belonging to the subfamily Triatominae of the family Reduviidae. Living kissing bugs are blood-sucking insects responsible for the transmission of Chagas disease. Chagas is a parasitic disease affecting millions of people mainly in South America, Central America and Mexico.