Lebanoaeshna mikhaeli, Azar & Maksoud & Abi-Saad & Nel, 2024

Azar, Dany, Maksoud, Sibelle, Abi-Saad, Pierre & Nel, Andre, 2024, A new, to date endemic, family of dragonfly in the mid-Cretaceous fossil fish Konservat-Lagerstätte of Haqel, Lebanon (Odonata: Anisoptera), Zootaxa 5497 (1), pp. 142-150 : 146

Lebanoaeshna mikhaeli sp. nov.

Genus: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2AAF9E86-B9CA-4B6D-A25E-EC9D430B529A

Species: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5AD24D5E-B77D-4F29-9CFF-D690B84F7DC4

Fig. 3

Material. Holotype I-26247/1A and B (part and counterpart of a rather poorly preserved forewing), stored in the Natural History Museum of the Lebanese University.

Etymology. After Mr Mikhael Abi Saad, late father of one of us PAS, who worked several years in Haqel fossil fish’ outcrop.

Age and outcrop. Early late Cenomanian ( Fig. 2 ), Haqel, Caza Byblos, Governorate Jbeil-Kesserouan, Central Lebanon.

Diagnosis. As for the genus and the family (vide supra).

Description. Forewing hyaline, incomplete, with distal third missing and partly wrinkled, wing ca. 50.0 mm long, 8.8 mm wide, distance between base and arculus 5.0 mm, between arculus and nodus ca. 18.7 mm; two rows of cells between posterior wing margin and AA, defining an intercalary longitudinal vein parallel to AP; AA nearly parallel to MP+CuA; median area free of crossveins, six crossveins (including CuP) in submedian space; subdiscoidal space in continuity with submedian space, not transverse and with a distal angle acute; discoidal triangle very long and narrow, divided into seven smaller cells, with vein MAb having a very strong angle and a strong curvature; arculus with RP separated from MA; a strong trigonal planate in postdiscoidal area, emerging at angle of MAb, two rows of cells between MAb and MP basad angle of MAb; two rows of cells between MAa and trigonal planate and one row between trigonal planate and MP; Mspl rudimentary; distal part of postdiscodal area widened with at least five of cells between MAba and MP; CuA making a very strong double curve, very close to posterior margin of wing in its basal half, without well-defined posterior branches distally; cubito-anal area with at least three-four rows of cells in its broadest part; area between CuA and MP with two rows of large cells basally; area between MP and posterior margin very broad with numerous rows of cells and intercalary veins; two strong primary antenodal crossveins, Ax1 1.0 mm basal of arculus and Ax2 3.7 mm distal of arculus, opposite middle of discoidal hypertriangle; ca. 28 secondary antenodal crossveins of first row between C and ScP distad Ax2 and three-four between Ax1 and Ax2; secondary antenodal crossveins of second row between ScP and RA present but poorly preserved; nodus in a very distal position; bases of RP3/4 and IR2 very far distad arculus, closer to nodus than to arculus; a supplementary longitudinal vein aligned with ScP distad nodus, ca. 2.5 mm long; base of RP2 aligned with subnodus; area between RP1 and RP2 very narrow up to pterostigma; postnodal crossveins numerous, more than 22, not well-aligned with the postsubnodal crossveins; part of areas between C and RA and area between RA and RP1 distad pterostigma very long (possibly due to taphonomy deformation); pterostigma in a basal position, elongate, 4.0 mm long, 0.7 mm wide, covering eight cells; Rspl rudimentary; IR2 probably simple, closely parallel to RP2 at least in their basal halves; cells and intercalary crossveins in area below IR2 very numerous.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Mid-Cretaceous fossil fish Konservat-Lagerstätte of Haqel, Lebanon. A, Geological map of outcrop (modified from Dubertret, 1945; Dubertret & Wetzel, 1945). J6 = uppermost Jurassic; C2a = lower Barremian ‘Grès du Liban’ sandstone; C2b = Barremian clay and oolitic deposition of upper part of ‘Grès du Liban’ and oolitic deposition of lower part of Jezzinian; C3 = micritic part of Jezzinian (uppermost Barremian-lowermost Aptian); C4 = Albian; C5 = Cenomanian; Q = Quaternary scree; βJ6 = Kimmeridgian volcanic deposition; βC3 = Jezzinian volcanic deposition. Thick lines represent faults. Scale bar = 1 km. B, General view of outcrop. C & D, Details of stratigraphic layers of outcrop.

FIGURE 3. Lebanoaeshna mikhaeli gen et sp. nov., Holotype I-26247/1A and B, part and counterpart. A, Counterpart, specimen I-26247/1B. B, Part, specimen I-26247/1A. C, Drawing of the specimen I-26247/1A completed by parts preserved on specimen I-26247/1B.