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Issue: Vol. 5739 No. 1: 31 Dec. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-12-31
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5739.1.5
Page range: 13-20
Abstract views: 43
PDF downloaded: 30

Danolestes moelleri gen. et sp. nov., the first lestoid (Zygoptera: Odonata) from the early Ypresian Fur Formation of Denmark shows faunistic affinity to South America

Department of Research and Collections; Natural History Museum Aarhus; Wilhelm Meyers Allé 10; Aarhus; DK-8000 Aarhus C; Denmark
Beaty Biodiversity Museum; University of British Columbia; Vancouver; British Columbia; Canada; Museum of Comparative Zoology; 26 Oxford Street; Cambridge; Massachusetts 02138; USA
Museum Mors; Skarrehagevej 8; DK-7950 Nykøbing Mors; Denmark; Natural History Museum of Denmark; Øster Voldgade 5-7; DK-1350 Copenhagen K; Denmark
Fur Museum; Nederby 28; DK-7884 Fur; Denmark
Department of Research and Collections; Natural History Museum Aarhus; Wilhelm Meyers Allé 10; Aarhus; DK-8000 Aarhus C; Denmark
Division of Invertebrate Zoology; American Museum of Natural History; New York; NY 10024; USA
Odonata ypresian Fur Formation lestoidea

Abstract

We describe Danolestes moelleri gen. et sp. nov., the first spreadwing damselfly (Odonata, Zygoptera, Lestoidea) known from the Danish earliest Eocene Fur Formation. The new taxon is placed in Lestoidea, and tentatively affiliated with Priscalestes and Promegalestes, two extinct genera known from Western Palearctic and South America respectively, highlighting the complex biogeographical affiliations of the Fur Formation biota. D. moelleri gen. et sp. nov. was preserved in a ‘striated concretion’ block from the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) recovery phase. It is the second odonate and first zygopteran described from the PETM recovery phase of the Fur Formation.

 

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How to Cite

Simonsen, T.J., Archibald, S.B., Rasmussen, J.A., Sylvestersen, R.L., Olsen, K. & Ware, J.L. (2025) Danolestes moelleri gen. et sp. nov., the first lestoid (Zygoptera: Odonata) from the early Ypresian Fur Formation of Denmark shows faunistic affinity to South America. Zootaxa, 5739 (1), 13–20. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5739.1.5