A Late Cretaceous amber biota from central Myanmar

Daran Zheng, Su-Chin Chang (), Vincent Perrichot, Suryendu Dutta, Arka Rudra, Lin Mu, Ulysses Thomson, Sha Li, Qi Zhang, Qingqing Zhang, Jean Wong, Jun Wang, He Wang, Yan Fang, Haichun Zhang and Bo Wang ()
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Daran Zheng: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Su-Chin Chang: The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Vincent Perrichot: Géosciences Rennes - UMR 6118
Suryendu Dutta: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Arka Rudra: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Lin Mu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ulysses Thomson: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Sha Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qi Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qingqing Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jean Wong: The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Jun Wang: The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
He Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yan Fang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Haichun Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Bo Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Insect faunas are extremely rare near the latest Cretaceous with a 24-million-year gap spanning from the early Campanian to the early Eocene. Here, we report a unique amber biota from the Upper Cretaceous (uppermost Campanian ~72.1 Ma) of Tilin, central Myanmar. The chemical composition of Tilin amber suggests a tree source among conifers, indicating that gymnosperms were still abundant in the latest Campanian equatorial forests. Eight orders and 12 families of insects have been found in Tilin amber so far, making it the latest known diverse insect assemblage in the Mesozoic. The presence of ants of the extant subfamilies Dolichoderinae and Ponerinae supports that tropical forests were the cradle for the diversification of crown-group ants, and suggests that the turnover from stem groups to crown groups had already begun at ~72.1 Ma. Tilin amber biota fills a critical insect faunal gap and provides a rare insight into the latest Campanian forest ecosystem.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05650-2

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