New Paleogene Epallagidae (Insecta: Odonata) recorded in North America and Europe. Biogeographic implications

PETRULEVICIUS, J. F.

Vitoria-Gasteiz

Congreso; IV International Congress of Paleoentomology, II International Meeting on Paleoarthropodology, y III Amber International Congress (?Fossil X3?); 2007

IPS - International Palaeoentomological Society

Three new fossil Epallagidae: Eodichrominae? are described, viz: Litheuphaea coloradensis sp. nov. from the Eocene of USA, and Labandeiraia gen. nov. with two species, L. americaborealis sp. nov. from the Eocene of USA, and L. europaea sp. nov. from the Paleocene(?)/lowermost Eocene of Denmark. It is the third record of Eodichrominae in Europe with Parazacallites aquisextana Nel (Oligocene) and Litheuphaea ludwigi Bechly (Eocene). In North America two other species are recorded, Eodichroma mirifica Cockerell and Litheuphaea carpenteri Fraser, both from the Eocene. This study evidenced on one hand the oldest record of Epallagidae and on the other hand a transcontinental distribution of the genus Labandeiraia with species in Western North America and Denmark. This distribution pattern coincides with that of the species of Litheuphaea and may correspond to the presence of Paleocene/Eocene land bridges between these continents on the North-Atlantic Sea. Another interesting point is the Western North American record of the new species, making suitable its distribution also in Asia via the Bering Strait. Europe and Asia were separated since the Jurassic by the Turgai Sea, although there were temporary regressions in the Paleocene. The fossil distribution of the family highlights that the Epallagidae were more widespread at least in the Paleogene with the Eodichromatinae distributed in the Eocene of North America and in the Paleocene(?)/Eocene and Oligocene of Europe. The Epallaginae, of which there is no known fossil record, inhabit the Eastern Mediterranean Europe and principally South Asia. The absence of fossil Epallagidae in Asia is surely due to the poor knowledge of the Paleogene odonatofauna in this area. With this fossil and the recent record of the family it is obvious to infer an ancestral distribution on the Northern continents. Furthermore, the Zacallitidae, considered as the sister group of the Epallagidae, are recorded in the Eocene of North America.