Systematics And Taxonomy Of The New Material Of Gryllotalpidae In Mid-Cretaceous Burmese Amber

Burmese amber,also known as Kachin amber,is produced in the Hukang River Valley of Kachinchina in northern Myanmar.Its history can be traced back to about 100 million years ago,from the late Albian period to the early Cenomanian period of the Cretaceous period.Burmese amber biodiversity is very high and new families are often discovered to be included in the research so far.Currently known species exceed 42 classes,108 orders,569 families,1017 genera and 1379 species,including bryophytes,ferns,angiosperms,clawed animals,vertebrates,arthropods animals,e.g.,arthropods including insects and arachnids have high biodiversity.Mole crickets belong to the class Insecta,order Orthoptera,suborder Ensifera,and superfamily Gryllotalpoidea.Although insects are particularly prominent among the well-preserved organisms in Burmese amber,only a few belong to the order Orthoptera,and the fossil record of mole crickets in amber is even rarer.The living habits of mole crickets have a certain indicative significance for the paleo-ecological environment during its survival period.Compared with general imprinted fossils,the preserved biological structure of amber fossils will be more complete,and it is easier to identify the morphological characteristics of organisms.Therefore,while introducing the domestic and foreign research situation,living habits and behavioral characteristics of Gryllotalpoidae,this topic selected some representative Kachin amber specimens from Myanmar,and conducted a more comprehensive systematic classification study.Based on Kachin amber fossils in Myanmar,this paper conducts a detailed study of five specimens of the family Gryllotalpoidae,and describes the external morphological characteristics and biological.The scientific characteristics of the new species are described in detail and the key characteristics of some specimens are drawn for morphological comparison.Based on the above work,a total of 5 new species of Gryllotalpoidae were described,including the published Tresdigitus gracilis Jiang et al.,2022 and the unpublished Tresdigitus zhangi sp.nov.,Tresdigitus perrichoti sp.nov.,Tresdigitus neli sp.nov.,Tresdigitus wangi sp.nov.According to the research on the new species,the mid-Cretaceous mole crickets may be herbivorous animals and have not fully adapted to underground life.These discoveries have improved the diversity of mole cricket species in the mid-Cretaceous period,and at the same time broadened our understanding of the evolutionary history and ecology of mole crickets in Kachin amber from Myanmar.