''Mesembrinella caenozoica'' 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 ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of blow fly in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Mesembrinellidae Mesembrinellidae is a family of Neotropical flies in the order Diptera, and formerly included in the Calliphoridae. There are 36 described species. Taxonomy *Subfamily Laneellinae Guimarães, 1977 :*''Laneella'' Mello, 1967 ::*'' L. nigripes'' Gu ...

. The species is solely known from the

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma to 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma (million y ...

Dominican amber Dominican amber is amber from the Dominican Republic derived from resin of the extinct tree ''Hymenaea protera''. Dominican amber differentiates itself from Baltic amber by being nearly always transparent, and it has a higher number of fossil incl ...

deposits on the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

History and classification

''Mesembrinella caenozoica'' was described based on a single fossilised specimen which is preserved as an

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in a transparent chunk of

. The amber was produced by the extinct ''

Hymenaea protera ''Hymenaea protera'' is an extinct prehistoric leguminous tree, the probable ancestor of present-day ''Hymenaea'' species. Most neotropical ambers come from its fossilized resin, including the famous Dominican amber. ''H. protera'' once grew in ...

'', which formerly grew on the island of

, across northern South America and up to southern Mexico. The amber dates from the

Burdigalian The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age (geology), age or stage (stratigraphy), stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 annum, Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). Preceded by the Aquitanian (sta ...

stage (20.43 ± 0.05 to 15.97 ± 0.05 million years ago) of the Miocene, and is recovered from sections of the

La Toca Formation The La Toca Formation is a geologic formation in the northern and eastern part of the Dominican Republic. The formation, predominantly an alternating sequence of marls and turbiditic sandstones, breccias and conglomerates, is renowned for the p ...

in the

Cordillera Septentrional The Cordillera Septentrional is a mountain range that runs parallel to the north coast of the Dominican Republic, with extensions to the northwest as Tortuga island in Haiti, and to the southeast through lowlands to where it rises as the Sierra d ...

and the

Yanigua Formation The Yanigua Formation is a geologic formation in Dominican Republic. The lagoonal claystones and marls preserve fossils dating back to the Miocene period. The specimen was collected from an unidentified amber mine in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. At the time of description, 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 was preserved in the collections of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

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. The fossil was first studied by an international team of researchers headed by entomologist Pierfilippo Cerretti of Sapienza University of Rome,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The team's 2017

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 species was published in the

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journal '' PLOS One''. 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 ...

''caenozoica'' was in reference to the Cenozoic Era, which is derived in turn from the Greek words ''kainos''‘, which means "new", and ''zoe'' which means ‘life’. The Cenozoic spans from approximately 66 million years ago to the present. Cerretti ''et al'' noted the species to be the first unambiguous fossil Oestroidea member described until that time.

Paleoecology

Members of the family Mesembrinellidae are found exclusively in the Neotropical forests from the Yucatán south to the

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

region of South America. There are no records of living species on the Caribbean islands other than

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. The Dominican amber forest has been reconstructed as a tropical forest with streams, clearings and ponds reminiscent of the modern forests on Hispaniola. Based on what is known of modern mesembrinellid biology and the paleoenvironment of the Dominican amber forest, Cerretti ''et al'' suggested that ''M. caenozoica'' was a shade loving forest species with only a small habitat change tolerance, and with the movement of the paleo-Caribbean islands away from the mainland or with the climate changes through the Miocene the species went extinct.

Phylogeny

Based on a phylogenetic analysis of Mesembrinellidae species along with other Oestroidea, Cerretti ''et al'' placed ''M. caenozoica'' as a sister species to the living species '' M. facialis'' in an expanded circumscription of the genus which includes all Mesembrinellidae species. The clade formed by ''M. caenozoica'' and ''M. facialis'', is in turn sister to the clade formed by the species '' M. patriciae'', '' M. nigripes''; and '' M. perisi''. The species in the two clades include all species that are sometimes treated in the genera ''Laneella'' and ''Souzalopesiella'' when ''Mesembrinella'' is split up. The two clades are basal and sister to all the other species of ''Mesembrinella''. Mesembrinella caenozoica head profile view

Mesembrinella caenozoica head profile view

Description

Mesembrinella caenozoica thorax profile view

The ''M. caenozoica '' male is long, with a black to dark brown abdomen with possible red coloration if viewed at certain angles. The legs are mostly dark brown to blackish brown, with the tibiae and femora also showing reddish or yellowish tones at certain angles of view and the

pulvilli Pulvilli are soft, cushionlike pads on the feet of insects and other arthropods, such as the housefly and ixodid ticks. They are located at the base of the claws (#2 in the figure at right). The pulvilli function as an adhesive system. Their sti ...

darkened. The thorax is also a uniform black to dark brown and the edges of both the metathoracic and prothoracic spiracles are dark brown. The area of the head between the eyes and frontal suture up to the antenna and below the eyes are a yellowish brown in tone. The scape and pedicel of the antennae are black, the postpedicel has a dark brown upper portion and a yellowish underside near the tip. The

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is mostly yellow in tone, though the base of the third aristomere is slightly darkened. The wing is hyaline in coloration with the well developed Alula being composed of an upper whitish calypter and lower infuscated calypter.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q47516844 Mesembrinellidae Miocene insects Burdigalian life Diptera of North America Prehistoric insects of the Caribbean Fauna of Hispaniola Neogene Dominican Republic Fossils of the Dominican Republic Dominican amber Fossil taxa described in 2017 Insects described in 2017