Abstract

Nosodendridae, the wounded-tree beetles, are a small polyphagan family with less than 100 described species placed into two extant and one fossil genera. Here we describe a new nosodendrid genus and species, Mesonosa scandens gen. et sp. nov., from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber from northern Myanmar (ca. 99 Ma). The new genus differs from extant nosodendrids in its bilobed tarsomeres 2–4, as well as putatively plesiomorphic characters such as strongly protuberant compound eyes and relatively elongate prosternum. The distinctly lobed tarsi are a unique feature within Nosodendridae, and likely represent an adaptation for climbing plants. The discovery of a third wounded-tree beetle genus from the Mesozoic indicates that while their body plan remained relatively conserved since the Cretaceous, nosodendrids have been more ecomorphologically diverse in the geological past than the present day, and thus are an example of a true “living fossil” lineage.