beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
in the family
Gyrinidae
The whirligig beetles are water beetles, comprising the family Gyrinidae that usually swim on the surface of the water if undisturbed, though they swim underwater when threatened. They get their common name from their habit of swimming rapidly i ...
, the only species in the genus ''Heterogyrus''. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to Madagascar, and forms a basal lineage within the family, estimated to have diverged from all other gyrinids (aside from the even earlier branching ''
Spanglerogyrus
''Spanglerogyrus albiventris'' is a species of beetle in the family Gyrinidae
The whirligig beetles are water beetles, comprising the family Gyrinidae that usually swim on the surface of the water if undisturbed, though they swim underwater w ...
'') 200 million years ago. It is suggested to be closely related to the fossil genera ''
Mesogyrus
''Mesogyrus'' is an extinct genus of fossil beetles in the family Gyrinidae, containing the following species:Cretotortor
''Cretotortor'' is an extinct genus of fossil beetles in the family Gyrinidae, containing the following species:Baissogyrus
''Baissogyrus savilovi'' is an extinct species of fossil beetle in the family Gyrinidae, the only species in the genus ''Baissogyrus''.Heterogyrinae.