Palaeoentomological study of the lacustrine oil-shales of the lower Miocene San Chils locality (Ribesalbes-Alcora Basin, Castellón province, Spain)

Abstract

For the first time, the study of the fossil record present in laminated bituminous dolostones from the San Chils locality, lower Miocene in age (ca. 19 Ma), located at the Ribesalbes-Alcora Basin, is addressed. The identifi cation of 11 families and three genera belonging to six insect orders (Orthoptera, Thysanoptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera) has been carried out. Furthermore, ephippia of cladoceran crustaceans, one bird feather, vertebrate coprolites and plant remains have been found. The San Chils palaeodiversity has been compared to that of La Rinconada, a similar outcrop in the same basin and depositional unit. Both localities correspond to lacustrine deposits and were mined during the past two centuries. This work has increased the palaeontological richness of the Ribesalbes-Alcora Basin with new fi ndings such as specimens of the subfamily Corixinae (Hemiptera: Corixidae), some ant workers (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), a specimen assigned to the genus Exechia (Diptera: Mycetophilidae), ephippia of Daphnia (Ctenodapnia) sp. (Branchiopoda: Cladocera), RESUMEN Este estudio aborda por primera vez el registro fósil presente en dolomías bituminosas laminadas/tableadas del yacimiento de San Chils (Cuenca de Ribesalbes-Alcora, Castellón) de edad Mioceno inferior (unos 19 millones de años). Se han identifi cado 11 familias y tres géneros pertenecientes a seis órdenes de insectos (Orthoptera, Thysanoptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera y Diptera). Además, se han hallado efi pios de crustáceos cladóceros, una pluma de ave, coprolitos de vertebrados y restos paleobotánicos. Dicha paleodiversidad se ha comparado con la de La Rinconada, un yacimiento de la misma cuenca y misma unidad sedimentaria. Ambas localidades corresponden a depósitos lacustres y fueron explotados mediante minería durante los dos últimos siglos. Con este estudio se ha incrementado la riqueza paleontológica de la Cuenca de Ribesalbes-Alcora, ya que se han hallado los primeros fósiles de la subfamilia Corixinae (Hemiptera: Corixidae), de hormigas de la casta obrera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), del género Exechia (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) y de efi pios de Daphnia (Ctenodaphnia), además de la familia

A braconid wasp (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from the Lower Cretaceous amber of San Just, eastern Iberian Peninsula

“…1 ). Furthermore, other specimens of the family were found in lower Miocene compression outcrops from the eastern Iberian Peninsula ( Peñalver and Martínez-Delclòs 2000 ; Álvarez-Parra and Peñalver 2019 ). Here, we describe a new genus and species of fossil wasp belonging to the subfamily † Protorhyssalinae included in amber from the upper Albian San Just in the eastern Iberian Peninsula.…”