The smallest Neoptera (Baryshnyalidae fam. n.) from Hagen-Vorhalle (early Late Carboniferous: Namurian B; Germany)

摘要

With Baryshnyala occulta gen. et sp. n. (Baryshnyalidae fam. n.) we report a new small species from early Late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) deposits in Hagen-Vorhalle. It differs in its unique venation pattern and small size from all other Neoptera known from this Lagerst?tte and other contemporaneous locations worldwide. With an estimated wing length of 10?mm it is by far the smallest species of Neoptera from Hagen-Vorhalle and is less than half as long as Heterologopsis ruhrensis Brauckmann & Koch, 1982 (~25?mm). The specimen shows some relations to the earliest Holometabola and may date back the first appearance of holometaboly to the Namurian B (early Bashkirian: Marsdenian). The new species increases the paleo-biodiversity and span of inter-specific variability within the early Neoptera. It shows that very small and tiny specimens and species can easily be overlooked.