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Issue: Vol. 8 No. 5: October 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-10-31
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.8.5.10
Page range: 538-551
Abstract views: 175
PDF downloaded: 6

Cretofigulus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae: Lucaninae): a new genus with two new species in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar

College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China; Fujian Academy of Forestry, Fuzhou 350012, China; State Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Sistema Museale di Ateneo, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Museo di Storia naturale, Sede “La Specola”, Via Romana 17, Firenze 50125, Italy
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Fujian Academy of Forestry, Fuzhou 350012, China
College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China; State Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Stag beetle fossil taxonomy Figulini Burmese amber Coleoptera Lucanidae Lucaninae

Abstract

A new fossil stag beetle genus, Cretofigulus gen. nov., is identified and described from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber from northern Myanmar. Two new species, C. caoqiangi sp. nov. and C. hollowayae sp. nov. are herein described and illustrated. Additionally, the morphological differences between Cretofigulus gen. nov. and the related extant genus Figulus Macleay, 1819 are discussed. Cretofigulus gen. nov. is the second fossil record of the subfamily Lucaninae from Burmese amber. Despite an evolutionary divergence of approximately 99 million years, Cretofigulus gen. nov. exhibits a striking morphological resemblance to extant Figulus. Key diagnostic features of Cretofigulus gen. nov., including reduced sexual dimorphism, suggest behavioral and ecological parallels with modern Figulini Burmeister, 1847, such as carnivorous feeding habits and adaptation to a monogamous lifestyle within decaying wood.

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