Beattieellus jurassicus, Oberprieler, Rolf G., Ashman, Lauren G., Frese, Michael & Ślipiński, Adam, 2016

Oberprieler, Rolf G., Ashman, Lauren G., Frese, Michael & Ślipiński, Adam, 2016, The first elateroid beetles (Coleoptera: Polyphaga: Elateroidea) from the Upper Jurassic of Australia, Zootaxa 4147 (2), pp. 177-191 : 182-185

Beattieellus jurassicus sp. n.

( Figs. 9–12 )

Description. Body length ca. 4.7 mm, width ca. 1.55 mm; head dimensions not measurable; pronotum length 1.0 mm, maximum width (at posterolateral angles) 1.55 mm; elytra length 3.3 mm (based on complete right elytron visible in counterpart), width ca. 0.85 mm; abdomen length 1.7 mm, maximum width 1.55 mm. Head indistinct, only dorsal outline visible, approximately 0.4 times as broad as pronotum at posterolateral angles. Pronotum slightly evenly convex, surface apparently smooth. Elytra flat, intervals not raised. Metaventrite smooth, apparently finely shagreened. Femora and tibiae with smooth surfaces. Abdominal ventrites also smooth, apparently glabrous. Other characters as in generic description.

Material examined (1 specimen). Holotype: part (AM F. 140886; Figs. 9, 11 ) largely a three-dimensional impression of ventral body surface but with white cuticular remains of head, prothorax, mesothoracic sclerites and hindlegs and with black remains of displaced right elytron; counterpart (AM F. 140887; Fig. 10 ) the threedimensional white remains of ventral body parts except head, prothorax and hindlegs, and impression of displaced right elytron with black cuticular remains; Talbragar Fish Bed ( Upper Jurassic : Kimmeridgian-Tithonian, 151 ±4 Ma), Gulgong, N.S.W., Australia , January 2013, coll. R. G. Beattie. Deposited in the Australian Museum, Sydney.

Name derivation. The specific name is a Latinised adjective derived from the name of the Jurassic period and stratigraphic system, which in turn are named after the Jura Mountains in Western Europe.

Remarks. The single specimen is only moderately compressed, preserving largely three-dimensional proportions. The part preserves the cuticular remains of the head, prothorax, right elytron and left middle and hindlegs and an imprint of the meso- and metathorax and abdomen, whereas the counterpart contains the cuticula of the meso- and metaventrites and the abdominal ventrites. The undersides of head and prothorax remain embedded in the rock beneath the part. The right elytron is dislodged and placed at an angle to the body, and the left elytron is missing. The apparent click apparatus between prosternum and mesoventrite is rather well preserved, as is the shape of the metacoxae (complete with coxal plate) and the left hindleg.

Figures

FIGURES 9 – 12. Beattieellus jurassicus gen. et sp. n.. 9, holotype, part (before preparation) (AM F. 140886); 10, holotype, counterpart (AM F. 140887), arrow pointing at anterior tubercle of mesoventral cavity of clicking apparatus; 11, holotype, part (after preparation) (AM F. 140886); 12, holotype, combined drawing of part and counterpart. Scale bars 1 mm.