https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3680-5172
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Abstract
The Paleocene Paskapoo Formation in Alberta, Canada, offers a unique opportunity to gain insight into insect diversity at that time. This fossil insect-rich formation has yielded a variety of fossil arthropod specimens, including several wings of Odonata related to the genus Alloaeschna Wighton and Wilson, 1986. Here, we demonstrate that morphological characters previously used to separate three species are instead the result of intraspecific variability. We reinforce this demonstration using two examples of high variability and plasticity in modern species of the family Aeshnidae. Accordingly, we reinterpreted the taxonomic position of Alloaeschna marklae Wighton and Wilson, 1986 syn. nov. and Alloaeschna quadrata Wighton and Wilson, 1986 syn. nov. as junior synonyms of Alloaeschna paskapooensis Wighton and Wilson, 1986. In addition, we describe the first occurrence of a zygopteran in the Paskapoo Formation, namely Albertalestes paskapooensis gen. et sp. nov. (Synlestidae). Importantly, this new taxon is the first representative of the family found in North America. We also reconstructed the relationships within the Synlestidae under Bayesian inferences with a newly assembled matrix. Finally, we discuss the biogeography of the clade considering its fossil record using parsimony ancestral state reconstruction.
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D5282228-2D59-46E9-B712-3DC5A71C42FD
Acknowledgements
We sincerely thank Mrs Betty A. Speirs, Mrs Patricia Mitchell, Mr Dennis C. Wighton and Mr David Maddison for the donation of their important collections of fossil insects, to the University of Alberta. CJ is grateful to Drs Felix Sperling and Victor Shegelski (University of Alberta), to the E. H. Strickland Entomological Museum (University of Alberta), and to Igor Jakab (University of Alberta) for access to the specimens and imaging facilities; and to Dr Frédéric Legendre (ISYEB, MNHN) for advice on gathering and merging molecular data. We thank Dr Paul M. Barrett, Dr Julián F. Petrulevičius, and one anonymous reviewer for insightful comments and corrections. This work forms part of the PhD project of CJ.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Supplemental material
Supplemental material for this article can be accessed here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2023.2261457.
Associate Editor: Vincent Perrichot