Partially disarticulated new Miocene burrower bug (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cydnidae) from Cerova (Slovakia) documents occasional preservation of terrestrial arthropods in deep-marine sediments
Abstract
The state of preservation of the bug Sehirus carpathiensis J.A. Lis, Vrsansky & Schlogl, sp. n. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cydnidae) from the Laksarska Nova Ves Formation at Cerova (Slovakia) supports extremely rapid sinking and burial in upper bathyal Early Miocene sediments.
The specimen originated from land at most a few kilometers away, but transport via a river can be excluded as the head and wings are still attached. Its most likely source based on fossil flora and the habitat of several living representatives of the genus is a riparian habitat in an adjacent area of land.
Phylogenetically the new species is closely related to both Oligocene and living representatives of the genus, thus indicating an early Paleogene origin of the genus (like many other living insect genera). The observations based on two samples from one area (Czech Republic) indicate that terrestrial insects are occasionally preserved in deep marine environments, but overlooked due to their usually fragmentary and obscure nature of the preservation.
The newly developed KVANT full-profile confocal measurement revealed a sample roughness Ra = 1.3-2.0 mu m and abdomen submerged in the matrix 300 mu m deeper than the more rigid pronotum.