''Tainosia'' 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 ...

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

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 ...

planthopper A planthopper is any insect in the infraorder Fulgoromorpha, in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, a group exceeding 12,500 described species worldwide. The name comes from their remarkable resemblance to leaves and other plants of their environment ...

in the

Nogodinidae Nogodinidae is a family of planthoppers. They have membranous wings with delicate venation and can be confused with members of other Fulgoroid families such as the Issidae and Tropiduchidae Tropiduchidae is a family of planthoppers in the ord ...

subfamily Nogodininae and at present, it contains the single species ''Tainosia quisqueyae''. The genus is solely known from the early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

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,

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 inc ...

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

''Tainosia quisqueyae'' is known only from one fossil, the holotype, number "BMNH Pal. PI II 62". It is a single individual of indeterminate sex preserved in a clear orange amber specimen. The specimen is mostly complete, though the right

tegmen A tegmen (plural: ''tegmina'') designates the modified leathery front wing on an insect particularly in the orders Dermaptera ( earwigs), Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets and similar families), Mantodea (praying mantis), Phasmatodea (stick an ...

torn, and the hind legs are partly destroyed. The insect was entombed while in resting posture, with both the hemelytra and

hindwings Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindw ...

mostly closed. The amber is currently residing in the Department of Palaeontology paleoentomology collections of the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. ''T. quisqueyae'' was first studied by Jacek Szwedo and Adam Stroiński, with their 2001

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 ...

being published in the journal ''

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 ...

''. The

generic Generic or generics may refer to: In business * Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark * Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...

name "''Tainosia''" was coined by Jacek Szwedo and Adam Stroiński in reference to the Tainos people who were native to Hispaniola and other islands of the

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and ...

. The specific epithet "''quisqueyae''" was designated in honor of one of the original names for Hispaniola, "Quisqueya". As with the extinct '' Tonocatecutlius gibsoni'', ''T. quisqueyae'' is placed in the Nogodininae tribe Nogodinini. All other extinct members of the family Nogodinidae currently described from the Americas are restricted to the subfamily Nogodininae.

Description

''Tainosia quisqueyae'' is in length and has a wing length of . Though similar to the related genus ''Tonocatecutlius'' known from

Mexican amber Mexican amber, also known as Chiapas Amber is amber found in Mexico, created during the Early Miocene and middle Miocene epochs of the Cenozoic Era in southwestern North America. As with other ambers, a wide variety of taxa have been found as inc ...

, there are several notable differences between the genera. ''Tonocatecutlius'' has a

mesonotum The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments of the thorax of hexapods, and bears the second pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the mesonotum (dorsal), the mesosternum (ventral), and the mesopleuron (lateral) on ...

which is smooth and uninterrupted, while ''Tainosia'' has a mesonotum that bears anterolateral carinae. The

forewing Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwin ...

of ''Tainosia'' has a costal cell and clavus without transverse veinlets, while ''Tonocatecutlius'' has a costal cell and clavus crossed by veinlets. Similar to ''Tonocatecutlius'' is the network of veins crossing the upper half of the tegmen. The tegmen is semi-hyaline with faint but distinct color patterning present, the hindwing is hyaline and without any patterning.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7676219 † Extinct Hemiptera † Burdigalian life Miocene insects of North America Neogene Dominican Republic Prehistoric insects of the Caribbean † Dominican amber Fossil taxa described in 2001