A miniaturized ommatid beetle in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Archostemata: Ommatidae)

Abstract

Recent findings of ommatids from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber have greatly increased our knowledge on the Mesozoic diversity of Ommatidae. Here, we report the first distinctly miniaturized ommatid species, Miniomma chenkuni gen. et sp. nov., entombed in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. This new fossil species is characterized by its small body size (less than 2 mm long) and subglobular metacoxae. Our discovery of miniaturization in extinct Ommatidae suggests a high ecological diversity of this family in the Mesozoic.