Cretasernus Peris et Philips, 2020

Genus Cretasernus Peris et Philips, 2020

Cretasernus spinosus Peris et Philips, 2020 – Burmese amber (the earliest Cenomanian); Myanmar

Discussion

Representatives of two subfamilies, Eucradinae and Anobiinae , have been identified from the Cretaceous ( Peris et al. 2015, 2020; Molino-Olmedo 2017; Li et al. 2023; Háva & Zahradník 2023). Mesernobius anawrahtai Engel, 2010 , from Burmese amber, was described as a primitive anobiid beetle ( Engel 2010) but was subsequently placed in the family Scirtidae ( Peris et al. 2020) . Benemerita burmitica Molino­Olmedo, 2024, a species described from Burmese amber, was classified as a new genus in the subfamily Dryophilinae of the family Ptinidae ( Molino­Olmedo 2024) . However, it has been determined that Benemerita Molino­Olmedo, 2024, syn. nov. is synonymous with Amberophytum Yu et al., 2019 and it belongs to the family Cerophytidae , because it is characterised by the broad, acute posterior angles of the pronotum, the simple claws and the hypognathous head. The earliest documented record indicates the presence of an undescribed species from Barremian Lebanese amber ( Kirejtshuk & Azar 2013), and a species of the recent Californian genus Actenobius has been described from early Albian San Just amber ( Peris et al. 2015). The most diverse fauna, with five species, is found in Burmese amber.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers who helped to improve the manuscript.

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