title: The first Mesozoic microwhip scorpion (Palpigradi): a new genus and species in mid-Cretaceous amber from Myanmar.
abstract: A fossil palpigrade is described and figured from mid-Cretaceous (Cenomanian) amber from northern Myanmar. Electrokoenenia yaksha Engel and Huang, gen. n. et sp. n., is the first Mesozoic fossil of its order and the only one known as an inclusion in amber, the only other fossil being a series of individuals encased in Pliocene onyx marble and 94-97 million years younger than E. yaksha. The genus is distinguished from other members of the order but is remarkably consistent in observable morphological details when compared to extant relatives, likely reflecting a consistent microhabitat and biological preferences over the last 100 million years.
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive-Suite 140, Lawrence, KS, 66045-4415, USA. msengel@ku.edu.|Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024-5192, USA. msengel@ku.edu.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive-Suite 140, Lawrence, KS, 66045-4415, USA. l-breitkreuz@ku.edu.
authors.forename: Laura C V
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Breitkreuz
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chenyang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive-Suite 140, Lawrence, KS, 66045-4415, USA. malvarado@ku.edu.
authors.forename: Mabel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alvarado
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sciences II, Department of Biology, Lebanese University, Fanar Matn, P.O. Box 26110217, Lebanon. azar@mnhn.fr.
authors.forename: Dany
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Azar
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, People's Republic of China. dyhuang@nigpas.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Diying
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D018647:Amber; D000818:Animals; D005580:Fossils; D002052:Myanmar; D012605:Scorpions / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D018647:Amber
keywords: Burmese amber; Cenomanian; Chelicerata; Mesozoic; Palpigradi; Taxonomy