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Abstract: Based on fifteen Archaeognatha (=Microcoryphia) specimens from Myanmar (Burmese) amber, including males, females and immatures, two new genera and four species, Cretaceomachilis longa sp.n., Unimeinertellus abundus gen. et sp.n., U. bellus sp.n. and Nullmeinertellus wenxuani gen. et sp.n., are described. Phylogenetic analyses of taxa in Archaeognatha were conducted using Maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference based on morphological characters and DNA sequence data. Our results confirm the phylogenetic position of the new genera, clarify the monophyly of Meinertellidae and indicate that the ‘paleo‐types’ excluding Ditrigoniophthalmus are nested within the Machilidae group, but suggest that the three subfamilies within Machilidae may be artificial. The diversity of meinertellids with derived characters found from the Cretaceous indicate that the divergence time of Machilidae and Meinertellidae is much earlier than the Cretaceous. We propose the possibility that Meinertellidae might have originated on Gondwana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phylogeny of the superfamily Pamphilioidea is reconstructed using morphology and DNA sequence data of living and fossil taxa by employing two phylogenetic methods (maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference). Based on our results, the monophyly of Pamphilioidea and Pamphiliidae are corroborated, whereas two extinct families, Xyelydidae and Praesiricidae, are not monophyletic. Because members of Praesiricidae together with Megalodontes form a monophyletic group, we propose that the paraphyletic Praesiricidae is synonymized under Megalodontesidae (syn. nov.). The origin of Pamphilioidea is hypothesized to be as early as the Early Jurassic. To better understand morphological evolution in the early lineages of Pamphilioidea, ancestral states of the first flagellomere and the first and second abdominal terga are reconstructed on the morphology-based tree. In addition, three new genera ( Medilyda, Brevilyda, Strenolyda) with five new species ( Medilyda procera, M. distorta, Brevilyda provecta, Strenolyda marginalis and S. retrorsa) are described based on well-preserved xyelydid fossils from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of north-eastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Description of the Early Cretaceous (Yixian Formation, China) fauna of Staphylininae and Paederinae rove beetles, and a rigorous (maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference) phylogenetic analysis of both extinct and extant taxa resulted in the following discoveries: a stem lineage sister to Staphylininae + Paederinae; a new tribe for Staphylininae, Thayeralinini trib. n.; several extinct species of the extant tribe Arrowinini; extinct basal lineages of the extant tribe Staphylinini; two stem genera of the 'Xantholinine-lineage' (Staphylininae); and recovery of Mesostaphylinus in Paederinae with several new species. It is demonstrated that by the Early Cretaceous, Paederinae and Staphylininae were already diversified into groups, some of which now represent extant tribes but not the branches dominating in the modern biota. While the study of the Early Cretaceous rove beetle fauna pushes the estimated divergence time between Paederinae and Staphylininae down into the Jurassic, it also suggests that presently hyperdiverse groups of Staphylininae originated some time later than the Early Cretaceous. In addition to one new tribe, five new genera ( Paleothius, Cretoprosopus, Thayeralinus, Paleowinus and Durothorax) and 17 new species are described in Staphylininae, and three new species of Mesostaphylinus are described in Paederinae. Mesostaphylinus fraternus ( incertae sedis) is moved to the genus Thayeralinus (Staphylininae). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationships of extant and extinct lineages of Adephaga were analysed formally for the first time. Emphasis is placed on the aquatic and semiaquatic groups and their evolution in the Mesozoic. † Triadogyrus and † Mesodineutus belong to Gyrinidae, the sister group of the remaining families. †Triaplidae are the sister group of the following groups (Haliplidae, Geadephaga, Dytiscoidea incl. †Liadytidae, †Parahygrobiidae and †Coptoclavidae [major part]). The lack of a ventral procoxal joint and a very short prosternal process are plesiomorphies of †Triaplidae. †Coptoclavidae and †Timarchopsinae are paraphyletic. † Timarchopsis is placed in a geadephagan clade. In contrast to other coptoclavids, its metathorax is close to the condition found in Haliplidae, with a complete transverse ridge and coxae with large plates and free mesal walls. †Coptoclavidae s.str., i.e. excl. † Timarchopsis, is a dytiscoid subgroup. The mesal metacoxal walls are fused, the coxal plates are reduced, and the transverse ridge is absent. † Stygeonectes belongs to this dytiscoid coptoclavid unit and is therefore misplaced in †Timarchopsinae. †Liadytidae belongs to a dytiscoid subgroup, which also comprises the extant families Aspidytidae, Amphizoidae, Hygrobiidae and Dytiscidae. † Parahygrobia is the sister group of Hygrobiidae. The larvae are characterized by a broad gula, the absence of the lacinia, retractile maxillary bases and very long urogomphi set with long setae. †Liadytiscinae is the sister group of extant Dytiscidae. There is no support for a clade †Eodromeinae and for Trachypachidae incl. †Eodromeinae. † Fortiseode is nested within Carabidae. The exclusion of fossil taxa has no effect on the branching pattern. The evolution of Adephaga in the Mesozoic is discussed. Possible reasons for the extinction of †Coptoclavidae are the rise of teleost fish and the competition of Gyrinidae and Dytiscidae, which possess efficient defensive glands and larval mandibular sucking channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]