title: The Jurassic Bajanzhargalanidae (Insecta: Grylloblattida?): New genera and species, and data on postabdominal morphology.
abstract: The presumed phylogenetic link between extant ice-crawlers (Grylloblattidae = 'crown-Grylloblattida') and fossil species of the taxon concept Grylloblattida sensu Storozhenko (2002) is essentially based on postabdominal morphology. However, the fossil data are limited, and the interpretation is open to debate. Here we investigate a sample of a poorly known fossil 'grylloblattidan' family, the Bajanzhargalanidae, collected from the Daohugou locality (Middle Jurassic, China). We describe Sinonele fangi gen. nov., sp. nov., Sinonele hei gen. nov., sp. nov., Sinonele phasmoides gen. nov., sp. nov., and Sinonele mini gen. nov., sp. nov. Thanks to the abundance and exceptional preservation of the material, we could document wing venation intra-specific variability, provide cues to identify male and female individuals, describe and tentatively interpret various body structures of both sexes, and discuss them with a broad pterygotan phylogenetic perspective. The Bajanzhargalanidae exhibit a puzzling combination of postabdominal characters leaving us inconclusive on their affinities, or lack thereof, with crown-Grylloblattida. Our contribution suggests that a substantial effort will be needed to further investigate postabdominal structures from comparatively ancient fossil insects preserved as rock imprints, because of their broad morphological disparity.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science, Capital Normal University, 10048 Beijing, China; Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, Institute of Geology, Department of Palaeontology, Bernhard-von-Cotta Str. 2, D-09599 Freiberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Yingying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherches sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P, UMR 7207), Sorbonne Universités - MNHN, CNRS, UPMC-Paris6 - Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, CP38, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Béthoux
authors.affiliation: Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden, Königsbrücker Landstrasse 159, D-01109 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus-Dieter
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Klass
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science, Capital Normal University, 10048 Beijing, China. Electronic address: rendong@mail.cnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ren
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005580:Fossils / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007313:Insecta / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000033:anatomy & histology
keywords: Abdomen; Antenna; Daohugou; Genitalia; Grylloblattida; Intra-specific variability; Ovipositor; Sexual size dimorphism; Tarsus