Palaeoleptochromus, O'KEEFE, 1997

† PALAEOLEPTOCHROMUS O’KEEFE, 1997 View in CoL

Remarks

† Palaeoleptochromus , with its sole species † P. schaufussi from the Campanian of Canada, is the most problematic extinct taxon of Mastigitae . Most characters crucial to place it in a taxonomic context are not observable in the specimen. In our analysis it was placed within the poorly resolved Clidicini sensu nov. ( Fig. 3). † Palaeoleptochromus may be a junior synonym of Clidicus , and as the only North American member of this lineage, represents the only firm evidence for a broad distribution of Clidicini during the Upper Cretaceous. However, the fossil has an intriguing character, not known in any remaining Clidicini – a pair of enlarged setae on the posterior margin of the vertex (illustrated in O’Keefe et al., 1997). The placement of † Palaeoleptochromus is still unclear, so we retain this name as valid, pending further study.