Cretophengodidae, a new Cretaceous beetle family, sheds light on the evolution of bioluminescence

Bioluminescent beetles of the superfamily Elateroidea (fireflies, fire beetles, glow-worms) are the most speciose group of terrestrial light-producing animals. The evolution of bioluminescence in elateroids is associated with unusual morphological modifications, such as soft-bodiedness and neoteny,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2021-01, Vol.288 (1943), p.20202730-20202730
Main Authors: Li, Yan-Da, Kundrata, Robin, Tihelka, Erik, Liu, Zhenhua, Huang, Diying, Cai, Chenyang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Coleoptera - genetics
Fireflies
Fossils
Male
Myanmar
Palaeobiology
Phylogeny
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Summary:Bioluminescent beetles of the superfamily Elateroidea (fireflies, fire beetles, glow-worms) are the most speciose group of terrestrial light-producing animals. The evolution of bioluminescence in elateroids is associated with unusual morphological modifications, such as soft-bodiedness and neoteny, but the fragmentary nature of the fossil record discloses little about the origin of these adaptations. We report the discovery of a new bioluminescent elateroid beetle family from the mid-Cretaceous of northern Myanmar ( 99 Ma), Cretophengodidae fam. nov. gen. et sp. nov. belongs to the bioluminescent lampyroid clade, and would appear to represent a transitional fossil linking the soft-bodied Phengodidae + Rhagophthalmidae clade and hard-bodied elateroids. The fossil male possesses a light organ on the abdomen which presumably served a defensive function, documenting a Cretaceous radiation of bioluminescent beetles coinciding with the diversification of major insectivore groups such as frogs and stem-group birds. The discovery adds a key branch to the elateroid tree of life and sheds light on the evolution of soft-bodiedness and the historical biogeography of elateroid beetles.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2020.2730