Paleochina duvergeri, Schubnel & Desutter-Grandcolas & Garrouste & Hervet & Nel, 2020

Schubnel, Thomas, Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, Garrouste, Romain, Hervet, Sophie & Nel, André, 2020, Paleocene of Menat Formation, France, reveals an extraordinary diversity of orthopterans and the last known survivor of a Mesozoic Elcanidae, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 65 (2), pp. 371-385 : 378

Paleochina duvergeri sp. nov.

Figs. 6 , 7A .

Zoobank LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AD7F0C52-16A3-4CDB-A502-C676C84A7F7E

Etymology: Named after M. Bernard Duverger, for his authorization of collect of fossils in the area of Menat.

Holotype: MNT NEL 3267 , two fore- and two hind wings, two hind legs.

Type locality: New quarry, Menat, Puy-de-Dôme, France.

Type horizon: Middle Paleocene, Menat Basin.

Material.— Holotype only.

Diagnosis.—M+CuA separating from R well distal of apex of ScA; two rows of cells between CuA+CuPaα and CuPaβ.

Description.—Forewing hyaline, very narrow, 23.3 mm long, 2.7 mm wide in widest part, 1.5 mm in narrowest; posterior margin straight; C very weakly curved basal of apex of ScA; area between C and ScA narrow, 0.3 mm wide, with a series of ca. 10 short parallel crossveins; apex of ScA 6.0 mm from wing base; area between ScA and ScP 0.3 mm wide; area between C and ScP narrow, 0.3 mm wide, with a series of short parallel crossveins; ScP and R strongly approximate but not touching; apex of ScP 6.0 mm distal of that of ScA; area between C and RA darkened, 0.25 mm wide, without visible crossvein, except near apex of RA; apex of RA 1.3 mm from wing apex; M+CuA appressed to R in basal half of wing, separating from R 8.5 mm from wing base; independent stem of M+CuA 2.3 mm long; M simple; CuPaα weak, ending into CuA 0.7 mm from point of separation between M and CuA; CuA+CuPaα simple; two rows of irregular cells between M and CuA+CuPaα; base of RP 12.3 mm distal of wing base; area between RA and RP narrow, 0.3 mm wide, with one row of simple crossveins between them; RP with five posterior branches, with two rows of cells between them; two rows of cells between CuA+CuPaα and CuPaβ; one row of cells between M+CuA and CuPa, and between CuPa and CuPb; CuPb straight, area between CuPb and anal vein very narrow.

Hindwing 22.0 mm long, narrow, with the anal area folded along first anal vein; hyaline, except for a darkened area between C and RA, as in forewing; part of wing anterior to the anal area nearly identical to forewing.

Hind leg long and rather thin: femur 16.7 mm long, 1.3 mm wide, with longitudinal anterior and posterior crests, without spines; tibia 13.2 mm long, 0.3 mm wide; with a series of ca. 28 strong spines, becoming more and more broad distally, apical spines poorly preserved; tarsus also poorly preserved.

Remark s. — The forewings, hindwings, and legs are grouped on a surface of 8 × 7 cm. They clearly belong to the same individual. The body is missing. This locust may have been attacked by a predator that has eaten the body. Wings and legs remained grouped because they have fallen in a surface algal mat (diatoms), and was transported at the lake bottom when the mat has sunk. This scenario is in accordance with what is generally observed in diatom paleolake ( Nel 1991).

Stratigraphic and geographic range.— Paleocene, Menat Formation, Menat, France.

Figures

Fig. 6. Wings and hind legs of chorotypid orthopteran Paleochina duvergeri gen. et sp. nov., holotype, MNT NEL 3267 from Paleocene of Menat, France.

Fig. 7. Tegmina of chorotypid orthopteran Paleochina spp. from Paleocene of Menat, France. A. Paleochina duvergeri gen. et sp. nov., holotype, MNT NEL 3267; A1, left wing; A2, right wing (reversed view). B. Paleochina minuta sp. nov., holotype, MNT NEL 1928. C. Paleochina minuta sp. nov., paratype, MNT BDL 1043. Scale bars 5 mm.Abbreviations: C, costa; CuA/P, cubitus anterior/posterior; CuPaα, most anterior branch of CuP; CuPaβ, median branch of CuP; CuPb, posterior branch of CuP; M, median vein; RA/P, radius anterior/posterior; ScA/P, subcostal anterior/posterior.