Tigrivia Bao et al., 2023

Genus: † Tigrivia Bao et al., 2023

Type species: † Tigrivia baii Bao et al., 2023

Etymology. The term “tigrivia” is derived from “tiger” and “via” (=way). This amalgamation succinctly denotes that the species had a specialized predacious lifestyle.

Revised differential diagnosis ( Figs 1–3 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 View FIGURE 3 ). (1) Body distinctly widened posteriorly; (2) elytra truncated, exposing gonocoxosterna and gonocoxae; (3) only one pair of compound eyes; (4) prosternal process very short; (5) mesoventrite fairly extensive, largely flat, lacking a hexagonal groove for reception of the prosternal process; (6) forelegs elongated, raptorial, with distinct medial tibial spur; (7) protarsomeres 2 and 5 longest, 3 and 4 short; (8) middle legs and hind legs long and distally flattened, paddle-like; (8) metacoxal plates small, only with medial portion, leaving metatrochanter exposed.

The structure of the protarsus exhibits a characteristic pattern akin to the raptorial forelegs observed in some †Coptoclavinae ( Ponomarenko 1977: fig. 13; Zhao et al. 2018: fig. 4). Based on two intricate apomorphic traits, the specimen under examination can confidently be classified within this subfamily and considered a close relative of † Coptoclava Ping, 1928 . These features include (1) elongated raptorial forelegs, displaying a remarkably similar and distinctive pattern of tarsomeres also present in † Coptoclava (as noted previously; Ping 1928; Ponomarenko 1977; Zhao et al. 2018: fig. 4), and (2) large paddle-like swimming legs on the meso- and metathorax, characterized by flattened and moderately broadened tarsi, with the intermediate ones typically heart-shaped ( Ping 1928; Ponomarenko 1977; Zhao et al. 2018: fig. 4).