''Baltimartyria'' 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 primitive metallic moths 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 ...

Micropterigidae Micropterigoidea is the superfamily of "mandibulate archaic moths", all placed in the single family Micropterigidae, containing currently about twenty living genera. They are considered the most primitive extant lineage of lepidoptera (Kristense ...

. The genus is solely known from the

Early Eocene In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age or lowest stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by the Eocene Lutetian Age. The Ypresian i ...

Baltic amber The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than 1 ...

deposits in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

region of Europe. The genus currently contains two described species, ''Baltimartyria proavitella'' and ''Baltimartyria rasnitsyni''.

''B. proavitella''

The

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

known fossil was originally studied and described by

Hans Rebel Hans Rebel (2 September 1861 – 19 May 1940) was an Austrian entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera. Rebel, who had an early interest in natural history and butterflies, first became a lawyer. He devoted his spare time to studying Lepidop ...

of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Rebel named the species ''Micropterix proavitella'', thinking it belonged to the modern genus ''

Micropterix ''Micropterix'' is a genus of small primitive metallic moths, in the insect order (biology), order lepidoptera within the family (biology), family Micropterigidae. The name was Species description, raised by the German entomologist, Jacob Hübne ...

''. Rebel published his description of the species in 1936. The fossil was reexamined in 1995 by the Polish entomologist Andrzej W. Skalski, who recognized the species was not a member of ''Micropterix'' and moved the species to the new genus ''Baltimartyria''.

''B. rasnitsyni''

The second species of ''Baltimartyria'' described from Baltic amber is ''B. rasnitsyni'' which, like ''B. proavitella'', is known from a single specimen. The holotype is included in the

paleoentomology The most recent understanding of the evolution of insects is based on studies of the following branches of science: molecular biology, insect morphology, paleontology, insect taxonomy, evolution, embryology, bioinformatics and scientific computing ...

collections of the

Museum für Naturkunde The Natural History Museum (german: Museum für Naturkunde) is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major muse ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, as specimen MB.I 5950. The holotype specimen is a complete male moth, included in a transparent section of amber with its

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

partly spread. Due to the positioning of the body the right antenna and right maxillary palps are not visible, while the top and inner sides of the genitalia are partly coated in a white coating. Overall the specimen has a body length of and has a fore-wing length of . ''B. rasnitsyni'' is distinguishable from ''B. proavitella'' by characters of the wing vein structure and the maxillary palps. While the R vein branches in ''B. proavitella'' all originate separately from the cell, whereas the R₄ and R₅ veins originate from a single vein that forks on the apex side of the cell. The species was described and named by Wolfram Mey in a 2011 paper published in the online and print journal ''

ZooKeys ''ZooKeys'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering zoological taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography. It was established in 2008 and the editor-in-chief is Terry Erwin (Smithsonian Institution). It is published by Pensoft Publ ...

''. Mey notes that the type specimen had been sitting on his desk for a number of years prior to description. 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 ...

placement was not recognized by Mey until Skalski's 1995 redescription of ''B. proavitella''. Mey chose the specific epithet ''rasnitsyni'' to honor the eminent Russian paleoentomologist,

Alexandr Pavlovich Rasnitsyn Alexandr Pavlovich Rasnitsyn (Russian: Александр Павлович Расницын) is a Russian entomologist, expert in palaeoentomology, and Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation (2001). His scientific interests are centered on ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4852754 † Prehistoric insects of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1995 Fossil taxa described in 2011 Fossil taxa described in 1935 Fossil Lepidoptera † Baltic amber Eocene insects Prehistoric insect genera †