Burmaculex is an extinct monotypic genus of mosquito found fossilised in Burmese amber dating from the Cretaceous period, believed to date from 95 million years ago.[1] The genus and species were described in 2004 by Art Borkent and David A. Grimaldi.[2]

Burmaculex
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Culicidae
Genus: Burmaculex
Borkent & Grimaldi, 2004
Species:
B. antiquus
Binomial name
Burmaculex antiquus
Borkent & Grimaldi, 2004

Cladogram after Azar et al. (2023):[3]

Corethrellidae

Chaoboridae

Libanoculex intermedius (Lebanese amber)

Burmaculex antiquus Borkent & Grimaldi, 2004 (Burmese amber)[2]

Crown Culicidae

References

edit
  1. ^ Quentin D. Wheeler (6 December 2012). "New to nature No 95: Culiseta lemniscata". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b Borkent, Art; Grimaldi, David A. (1 September 2004). "The Earliest Fossil Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae), in Mid-Cretaceous Burmese Amber". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 97 (5): 882–888. doi:10.1603/0013-8746(2004)097[0882:TEFMDC]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 85738337.
  3. ^ Azar, Dany; Nel, André; Huang, Diying; Engel, Michael S. (December 2023). "The earliest fossil mosquito". Current Biology. 33 (23): 5240–5246.e2. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.047.