''Cantabroraphidia'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of snakefly in the family

Mesoraphidiidae Mesoraphidiidae is an extinct family (biology), family of snakeflies in the suborder Raphidiomorpha. The family lived from the Late Jurassic through the Late Cretaceous and is known from twenty-five genera. Mesoraphidiids have been found as both ...

. The genus is solely known from fossil amber found in Cantabria, northern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, dating to the Albian age of the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pro ...

Period. Currently the genus comprises a single species ''Cantabroraphidia marcanoi''.

History and classification

''Cantabroraphidia marcanoi'' is known only from one fossil, the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

, specimen number ES-07-6, which is housed in the Museo Geominero in Madrid, Spain. The specimen is composed of an almost entirely complete adult insect of unidentified sex. Preserved in a transparent mass of amber, the specimen is fixed in association with a large amount of plant debris and one adult

diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

n. Despite the amount of debris obscuring portions of the individual, enough details are present and visible to show the specimen was not from a previously described genus. The fossil was recovered from outcrops of the Las Peñosas Formation in the Cave of El Soplao near Rábago, part of the Cantabria autonomous community in Northern Spain. ''Cantabroraphidia'' was first studied by group of paleoentomologists led by Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente of the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

and including Enrique Peñalver, Xavier Delclòs, and André Nel. Their 2010

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

of the new genus and species was published in the French journal '' Annales de la Société Entomologique de France''. The genus name ''Cantabroraphidia'' was coined by the researchers as a combination of the snakefly genus ''

Raphidia ''Raphidia'' is a genus of snakefly, mainly found in Europe. Species The following are included in ''BioLib.cz'': ;subgenus ''Aserbeidshanoraphidia'' Aspöck & Aspöck, 1968 * '' Raphidia nuchensis'' H. Aspöck et al., 1968 ;subgenus ''Nigroraph ...

'' and "Cantabria" which is in reference the Cantabria autonomous community where the outcrops that produced the fossil are located. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''marcanoi'' is from in honor of Francisco Javier López Marcano as recognition for his efforts to have the El Soplao ambers studied. ''Cantabroraphidia marcanoi'' is one of six described snakefly species found in the Albian deposits of Cantabria, and was the first Raphidiopteran to be described from El Soplao.

Description

The lone specimen of ''Cantabroraphidia marcanoi'' is a nearly complete adult. The

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

forewings are partially preserved and display brown vein structuring that hosts strong

setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...

. While partial, the forewings are complete enough to show the full length to be and a maximum of in width. The elongated

pterostigma The pterostigma (plural: pterostigmata) is a group of specialized cells in the outer insect wing, wings of insects, which are often thickened or coloured, and thus stand out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonfly, dragonfli ...

is faintly infumate, long and lacks crossveins except for the basal crossvein that closes the cell. Excluding the prothorax most of the thorax and all of the abdomen were crushed prior to entombment in the liquid sap. As such very little can be determined about these areas of the insect. Overall the thorax and abdomen appear to be of similar length as the prothorax and head. One of the few identifiable characteristics on the top of the prothorax is a small line of spines along the front edge.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5033524 Raphidioptera Early Cretaceous insects Fossil taxa described in 2010 Prehistoric insects of Europe Natural history of Spain