New fossil species of Trechinae (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from mid-Cretaceous French amber helps refining the age of the subfamily and its tribes under total-evidence dating
Abstract
The oldest fossil of Trechinae Bonelli, 1810, †Cydonius musei gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Charentese French amber (ca. 100 million years ago). Using total-evidence dating, which integrates morphological and molecular data, as well as fossils as tips, we tested its phylogenetic placement among Trechinae and obtained divergence time estimates for the subfamily and their tribes. Our results suggest a crown age of Trechinae around 137.6 million years ago and of Trechitae around 130 million years ago. Moreover, our total-evidence analyses consistently place †C. musei gen. et sp. nov. as a sister lineage of Anillini, with a divergence estimated at ∼104 million years ago. Morphologically close to the euedaphic tribe Anillini Jeannel, 1937, †C. musei gen. et sp. nov. possesses hind wings and eyes, unlike extant representatives of this tribe, which, together with its preservation in putatively aerial amber, suggest an epigean rather than euedaphic lifestyle for this fossil species. Its phylogenetic position relative to Anillini is discussed in the frame of character evolution. Furthermore, we also discuss the age of Trechinae and their tribes within a broader evolutionary framework. The discovery of †C. musei gen. et sp. nov. bridges an important temporal and ecological gap in Trechinae evolutionary history and opens new perspectives on the evolution of the subfamily.
Related
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BibTeX
@article{ferreira2026fossil,
title = {{New fossil species of Trechinae (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from mid-Cretaceous French amber helps refining the age of the subfamily and its tribes under total-evidence dating}},
author = {Jules Ferreira and Éric Quéinnec and Laura Pajot and Vincent Perrichot and David Peris},
journal = {Insect Systematics and Diversity},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/isd/ixag028},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05820594v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - New fossil species of Trechinae (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from mid-Cretaceous French amber helps refining the age of the subfamily and its tribes under total-evidence dating
AU - Jules Ferreira
AU - Éric Quéinnec
AU - Laura Pajot
AU - Vincent Perrichot
AU - David Peris
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
JO - Insect Systematics and Diversity
DO - 10.1093/isd/ixag028
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05820594v1
AB - The oldest fossil of Trechinae Bonelli, 1810, †Cydonius musei gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Charentese French amber (ca. 100 million years ago). Using total-evidence dating, which integrates morphological and molecular data, as well as fossils as tips, we tested its phylogenetic placement among Trechinae and obtained divergence time estimates for the subfamily and their tribes. Our results suggest a crown age of Trechinae around 137.6 million years ago and of Trechitae around 130 million years ago. Moreover, our total-evidence analyses consistently place †C. musei gen. et sp. nov. as a sister lineage of Anillini, with a divergence estimated at ∼104 million years ago. Morphologically close to the euedaphic tribe Anillini Jeannel, 1937, †C. musei gen. et sp. nov. possesses hind wings and eyes, unlike extant representatives of this tribe, which, together with its preservation in putatively aerial amber, suggest an epigean rather than euedaphic lifestyle for this fossil species. Its phylogenetic position relative to Anillini is discussed in the frame of character evolution. Furthermore, we also discuss the age of Trechinae and their tribes within a broader evolutionary framework. The discovery of †C. musei gen. et sp. nov. bridges an important temporal and ecological gap in Trechinae evolutionary history and opens new perspectives on the evolution of the subfamily.
SN - 2399-3421
ER -