Jiang Hui, Moulds Maxwell S, Blank Stephan M, Rust Jes, Wedmann Sonja
Senckenberg Forschungsstation Grube Messel, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt/Main, Markstraße 35, 64409, Messel, Germany.
Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Charles University, Albertov 6, Prague 2, Prague, 12843, Czech Republic.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 29;15(1):12826. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-94099-7.
Cicadidae is one of the most species-rich insect families today. However, compared to the number of extant species, fossil records of Cicadidae are extremely limited. Among singing cicadas, the tribe Platypleurini within the Cicadinae subfamily is notable for its broad geographic distribution, high species diversity, and distinctive features, but no reliable fossil records have been discovered to date. In this study, we report the first fossil record of the Platypleurini from the Eocene Messel Pit: a new genus and species, Eoplatypleura messelensis. This species not only represents one of the earliest known fossil crown-group Cicadidae from the Eurasian continent but also the oldest confirmed record of the subfamily Cicadinae worldwide to date. As the first described fossil singing cicada from the Eocene Messel Pit, this discovery enriches the species diversity of the Messel biota and fills a significant gap in the Eocene cicada fossil record. The discovery of E. messelensis gen. et sp. nov. will serve as a fossil calibration point for future molecular phylogenetic studies and provides new insights into the origins and dispersal patterns of Platypleurini. Based on the analysis of existing records, Cicadidae was once widely distributed in Germany and across Europe during the Cenozoic.
蝉科是当今物种最为丰富的昆虫科之一。然而，与现存物种数量相比，蝉科的化石记录极为有限。在鸣蝉中，蝉亚科的平翅蝉族以其广泛的地理分布、高物种多样性和独特特征而闻名，但迄今为止尚未发现可靠的化石记录。在本研究中，我们报告了始新世梅塞尔坑平翅蝉族的首个化石记录：一个新属新种，即梅塞尔始平翅蝉。该物种不仅代表了欧亚大陆已知最早的化石冠群蝉科之一，也是迄今为止全球蝉亚科最古老的确切记录。作为首个描述的来自始新世梅塞尔坑的化石鸣蝉，这一发现丰富了梅塞尔生物群的物种多样性，并填补了始新世蝉化石记录中的一个重大空白。梅塞尔始平翅蝉新属新种的发现将作为未来分子系统发育研究的化石校准点，并为平翅蝉族的起源和扩散模式提供新的见解。基于对现有记录的分析，蝉科在新生代曾广泛分布于德国及整个欧洲。
