The recently discovered definite giant fleas from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou fauna and the Early Cretaceous Jehol fauna of northeastern China represent significant evidence for understanding ectoparasitism in the Mesozoic as well as the evolution of these giant blood feeders with their putative hosts (i.e. hairy or feathered vertebrates). On the basis of seven well-preserved specimens from Daohugou and Huangbanjigou we analyse the systematic classification of these primitive fleas, establishing two new genera and three new species as Pseudopulex wangi sp. nov., Hadropsylla sinica gen. et sp. nov., and Tyrannopsylla beipiaoensis gen. et sp. nov. All of them are assigned to the extinct siphonapteran family Pseudopulicidae, while the Early Cretaceous genus Tarwinia is transferred to Tarwiniidae fam. nov. The basal morphological disparities of Siphonaptera in the Mesozoic are evidenced by the occurrence of at least three distinct groups (pseudopulicids, tarwiniids, and saurophthirids). These disparate morphologies likely indicate adaptations to different hosts.
Anomalocaridids were large predators of the Cambrian seas at the top of the trophic pyramid.Complete anomalocaridid specimens have been rarely discovered and the rigid isolated frontal appendages and mouthparts are more commonly preserved.Here we study new material of the frontal appendages from the Wulongqing Formation,Cambrian Stage 4,Series 2 near Kunming,eastern Yunnan.Two new forms of anomalocaridid frontal appendages are described,namely Anomalocaris kunmingensis sp.nov.and Paranomalocaris multisegmentalis gen.nov.,sp.nov.The frontal appendage of A.kunmingensis sp.nov.probably comprises15 podomeres of which the first one has a weakened skeletoned,the second one is armed with small spines,and the third one is armed with remarkably robust proximal ventral spines with 6 anisomerous auxiliary spines;paired auxiliary spines are associated with podomeres 4–14;podomeres 12–14 are armed with paired dorsal spines,and the last podomere bears 2 distal spines,one spine distinctly larger than the other.The frontal appendage of P.multisegmentalis tapered backwards,consisting of 22 visible podomeres;the most ventral spine is armed with 5 pairs of auxiliary spines,and podomeres 12–21 bear dorsal spines,the last podomere with 2 small distal spines.The new material provides additional evidence for our understanding of the diversity of anomalocaridids in the Cambrian.The morphology of these new finds may indicate the importance of different feeding strategies of anomalocaridids in the Cambrian ecosystem.
