Response to “Evidence from amber for the origins of termitophily”

In a recent Current Biology paper [1], we reported the oldest, morphologically specialized, and obligate termitophiles, Cretotrichopsenius burmiticus (Figure 1, left), from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, about 99 million years old. Cretotrichopsenius, belonging to the obligately termitophilous rove b...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current biology 2017-08, Vol.27 (16), p.R794-R795
Main Authors: Cai, Chenyang, Huang, Diying, Newton, Alfred F., Eldredge, K. Taro, Engel, Michael S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amber
Animals
Coleoptera - anatomy & histology
Color
Fossils
Phylogeny
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In a recent Current Biology paper [1], we reported the oldest, morphologically specialized, and obligate termitophiles, Cretotrichopsenius burmiticus (Figure 1, left), from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, about 99 million years old. Cretotrichopsenius, belonging to the obligately termitophilous rove beetle tribe Trichopseniini, display the protective horseshoe-crab-shaped body typical of many extant termitophiles. However, the termitophilous lifestyle of Cretotrichopsenius is being questioned by Yamamoto et al.[2] based on their representation of the termitophile-related features and premature and presumptive phylogenetic placement of Cretotrichopsenius within Trichopseniini. We stand by our interpretation that Cretotrichopsenius are obligate termitophiles, and Mesosymbion[3], a member of the largely free-living Mesoporini, are not necessarily termitophilous. Cai et al., the authors of the original paper, respond to the commenst of Yamamoto and colleagues.
ISSN:0960-9822
1879-0445
DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.083