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A new Eocene cockroach species from the Green River Formation of Colorado, U.S.A.

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Abstract

New species ?Periplaneta smithiae sp. n. is recorded from the Eocene Green River Formation. The new species possibly widens the Cenozoic range of this genus to the Americas. In the case this categorization is not precise and the new species represents the closest relative to the genus, it is apparent that the same genus is known from the Eocene Messel Lägerstatte (?P. eocaenica Meunier, 1921 and ?P. relicta Meunier, 1921). Periplaneta Burmeister, 1838 (Blattodea: Blattidae) is one of the most widely distributed living synanthropic cockroach genera. In any case, autapomorphies of Periplaneta are the characteristic shape of the only partially sclerotized forewing and its venation, the sharp angle of the descending veins and also characteristic leg carination. It fully fits the present taxonomical concept of the genus. As a relative to its Messel sister-species, it represents further support for cosmopolitan (or at least Eurasian-American) distribution during the Eocene of the American cockroach assemblages.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dena Smith and Talia Karim for access to the material and discussions during the study, Peter Vršanský (ZI SAS, Bratislava) for offering data from NMNH, Washington, D.C., Finnegan Marsh (NMNH) for technical support.

Funding

This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the contract No. APVV-0436-12, by UNESCO-Amba; VEGA 2/0125/09, 0012–14, 2–0113-22; MVTS; Literary Fund and National Stipend Program (SAIA); and 1123802 (C. Nufio).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth Science Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská c. 9, P.O. BOX 105, 840 05, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Peter Barna

  2. 265 UCB - CU Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309-0265, USA

    David Zelagin

  3. Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Charles University, Albertov 6, 128 00, Praha, Czech Republic

    Lucia Šmídová

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  1. Peter Barna
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D. Z. revealed and catalogised the sample. P. B. designed research, analysed sample, performed the illustration, photographs, and measurements. L. Š. modified the figures. All authors wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Lucia Šmídová.

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Barna, P., Zelagin, D. & Šmídová, L. A new Eocene cockroach species from the Green River Formation of Colorado, U.S.A.. Biologia 78, 1713–1719 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-023-01331-8

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